Gifting

Gifting

Christmas list, done!

Christmas closet, full!

Still waiting on Santa Postman

to bring a couple things.

I don't like wrapping.

Got bows.  No wrapping

paper or boxes or bags.

I'm in a quandary.

Maybe I'll just give people

presents, naked, with bows

and nothing else.

For my boyfriend too.

Only question.

Where to put the bow?

day 22:  sharing/receiving poem

December 15, 2016

Clutter

Clutter

Too much stuff.

In every corner

of my loft,

spilling into

downstairs,

the garage.

Nothing works.

It comes creeping

back in-with a life

of its own.

It doesn't help

that clutter

comes via the post

office, when I go shopping

bags of the stuff

fill up sofa and dining

table.

Maybe it's my fault,

after all.

day 22

December 15, 2016

Red States

Red States

Mom asks Chris, "Do you know

what a charnel house is?"

"Yes, Mom."

This is what passes for conversation

on a Wednesday morning after my mom's

finished one of her thrillers about the history

of old New York and murders, always murders.

I'm not totally certain, but it sounds violent

and mean, like this year's presidential election.

Is nothing sacred?

Not health care, not even social security.

What else will be on the chopping block?

Public schools, highways and police are next.

Day 21:  thinking out loud

December 14, 2016

Little White Pills

Little White Pills

Nasty mind-altering drugs

course through my system.

They keep me sane.

No doctor, just an offering

by a bored pharmacy tech.

They keep me from getting

too high and too low.

Some weirdness still leaks out.

I can't help myself.

That’s what I used to think.

Now I can.

Day 21

December 14, 2016

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

But I tinker anyway,

unsure.

Shoring up the middle

and both ends.

I know, all I need to do

is listen and hold and kiss.

I fail to do even that.

Instead, looking for problems,

inventing drama.

When all I need to do

is listen and hold and kiss.

Day 20:  popular saying

December 14, 2016

Rationalization

Rationalization

Litter on the floor

stains on the toilet

toothpaste in the sink

clothes in the corner.

I'm not the best housekeeper.

that's a fact.

I pretend not to see the mess,

only fooling myself.

I know it's there.

I'll do it tomorrow.

Tomorrow comes.

Still undone.

Maybe today…

Maybe I'll clean

the bathroom today.

day 20

December 14, 2016