Puppy Love

Puppy Love

That first betrayal

a sting like a hornet

            stepped on in the grass

                        left with a black mark

on the bottom of my foot.

He had to tell.

We were doing more than just

playing doctor.

Building trust,

            only to watch it

            crumble.

Never to speak again.

Intimacy, pride and rejection

all in one story.

A made for TV movie.

Then again maybe not.

March 25, 2016

Crystal Ball

Crystal Ball

Can't quite make it out

the future, hazy at best

has gone completely dark.

This crystal ball,

useless as usual

mocks and pouts.

I see you here, 2 weeks

or 8 years from now.

Am I with you?

So I consult my stars

and yours and hers and his,

all the same anyway,

reassurance with a warning.

Don't give your heart away.

I'm not the forgiving kind.

I want specifics.

You deal in generalities.

Today is all that matters.

You're in another state entirely.

And sand runs through my fingers.

March 25, 2016

Lioness Speaks

Lioness Speaks

Pride goeth before

falling on your ass.

So don't tell me what a stand-up

guy you are.

If you fall down

I might not be there

to pick you up.

March 24, 2016

Cell Block "A"

Cell Block "A"

Something keeps me

Something keeps me here.

Something keeps me

Something keeps me from you.

Is it iron bars or a thousand miles?

They feel the same.

Just a voice on the telephone.

Plexiglas between us.

"I love you too."

I can picture you.

Can you see me?

We send each other photos, not selfies,

But of real places, people.

I tack mine to the concrete wall.

So close we can almost touch.

Or am I in this prison alone?

March 11, 2016

"Faux"

Faux

I don't know my way

around a guitar,

a keyboard.

With your voice

you sing to me,

with your harmonica

you serenade.

Musical knowledge

I can't equal.

I know rock and pop

songs from Abba

to Yes.  That won't save

me now.

I sign up for Musicianship,

feeling like a fraud.

What am I doing?

March 10, 2016

"Doctor's Orders"

Doctor's Orders

Down with the sickness

Runny nose to persistent cough

I can hardly breathe

Stoned on cough syrup

And music videos

I've seen too many times

This doing nothing

Is wearing thin

Tired of naps

Like a cranky four-year old

I write poems instead

March 3, 2016