The Best I Can Afford

remember a present given
may be inexpensive to you
but a luxury item for their buyer

Flowers

A vase on the table
A gift from a friend
Flowers for beauty
A nice gesture to send

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Seashells from a Distant Shore

For a souvenir
you brought me back
a bed of shells

Each one unique
Each one pored over

Fretting you’d not find one
I would like

I like them all
but your thoughtfulness
most of all

Russian Fairy Tales by A.A.

Illustration by A. Alexeieff, Russian Fairy Tales, 1945

Etched drawings dabbed
yellow, blue, and red
Prose that speaks
jewel-toned and scarce
Treasure hoards faraway tales
For Pru, Kim, and Diana
On Christmas 1945

Notes: The photo above comes from an actual edition I bought as a gift.

Pretty Bow

If I tied a string to my wrist
Weighed down by a silver charm
And cast off the other end into the ocean
Would I be robbed by a dolphin’s nosy poke
Or tango with the eight arms of a great octopus?
Would I be nibbled at by the lionfish
Or find myself wedged between the pink polyps of coral?
I throw my lure and three vibration afterwards, pull.
Out of the ocean rises a clam’s shell, knotted in a pretty bow:

The mermaids have good taste.

Small Things

A cool night breeze
A clean house
And an unexpected gift;
small things that sum into a Large Happiness