Constellations

The stars of memory
always seem brighter
than those of tonight’s sky

And the ones of tomorrow
promise the overwhelming
brilliance
of gigantic suns

But both of them are
mirages
and personal
falsehoods

Silver

Mid-August, I wake with my bones aching from cold that has seeped in from the open windows. Outside, the sun runs silver over white poultry trucks. Ambling tourists sway with their backpacks on one shoulder.

shoulders bared silver
weak for the height of summer
wintry sunshine

Not one leaf has turned, but already I dread the fall, knowing winter is not far behind. Another flashback. Another year’s end to sum up and find wanting.

Trip

Life asks you to walk anywhere
Gives you means to think everywhere
But there are no such treks as U-turns;
Plod ahead while glancing back
And find yourself sprawled on pavement.

Outlooks of Depression

If I could discern
the gears of fate and time
perhaps I could see
a happier future
than the crystal ball of thought,
cloudy and smoke-filled,
frightens me with.

But sad knowing, perhaps
will cement
a sadder reality.

How strange that ignorance breeds
fear of knowledge
and uncertainty
fear of stability.

Bereaved

Outside my window
A gray, thunderstruck tree
Sags with bent shoulders
Bare-branched and anxiously bowed
It tilts, as if into a future
Where you might return

Daddy’s Girl

Like the veil of a bride
Tender falls the night
Around your sleeping head.
The moon as your attendant
Watches with shy pride
While leaves tap on the window —
Harbingers of future courtiers.

At Thanksgiving

Mothers give you the whole wishbone;
They tell you half-dreams are an impossibility —
That all the goodness in your future
Is already yours

Rain

A nebulous cloud
Hangs on the rim of the sky
Future rain threatens

Tryst

The sound of your voice stirs
The singing strings
Of a clandestine love affair
In the eaves of darkness
We meet palm-to-palm
And whisper of many tomorrows
Each more brilliant than the last
Jewels spilling between us
Like endless possibilities

Fear of the Unknown

The light dims behind
Ahead, a road and journey
A stumble, a shiver