Please do not sit there so still the next time the winter wind blows.
Hypothermia can murder a Mastodon and in your sooth you know-
That you are not a creature of such massive size. Experience shows
you must not amble on to petrify but instead pick up the pace and run.
While it is also true that fear can freeze, Father Time shall not be stunned.
When the water of the world stagnates, pray for the rain to fall anew.
Noah saw the water alter- his thirst was not quenched by dew.

To my skin Ill apply a steel wool pad and scrub off the burr
that attached when I clung to a drowning tree. From the muck I stir ...
If I must bleed for my vigilance, this pain I shall outlast.
"You have no choice." says the voice. You cannot change the past.

He toddles and jams the
chocolate cookie into his
mouth. And then, after it
is sopping wet with saliva,
he smooshes the cookie
into the crevice of one of
those plastic noisy toys
that sing and shriek and
light up with blinking lights
to his delight.

The noisy toy does all
these things and more.
It even makes the chocolate
cookie more mushy and hence
more desirable.

He glugs the milk from the
sippy cup. So delicious as
it runs down his chin and
neck. And then, he moves along
to another plastic noisy toy
that sings and shrieks and
lights up with blinking lights
to his delight.

He makes a poop and takes
a nap, he chases a ball and says
"deeeahuhhh" which means:
"pick me up, I need a hug."

He takes a bath and wears
fleecy pajamas with built
in slippers and a long zipper
that zips from the ankle
on the rght foot up to his
neck. He gets another chocolate
cookie and moves to another
plastic toy that sings and shrieks
and lights up with blinking lights
to his delight.

Imagine if he were thirty-five?

while
his soft hands
interrogate
simply
please stay
entertain
relate to me
simply

Moving on is much easier when you know for sure
which direction you want to travel. Choosing is the chore.
When the second foot you possess follows your best foot first,
forward movement is the motion toward the better from the worst.

But still...

Still I drag one foot behind as though I caught it in the door.
It is as if the dragging foot fears what may be in store.
Sometimes there are cliches I use even though I say I won't.
Sometimes I choose the devil I know than run to the one I don't.

Perhaps one day my fear of devils will diminish from my mind
And once again I will trust my heart in love to that princely kind
of man that I imagined, existed "once upon a dream"-
Where rainbows dance, butterflies can talk, and faeries eat ice cream.

But common sense reminds me that devils and princes do not exist.
Life is full of characters and some will not be missed.
And in this life, that I live, it is known that never-the-less
the winning smile, and sparkling eyes, I am no princess.

Little legs in the snow find their way through the deep.
She pushes forward with determination toward the slide.
She has a goal, a destination, a reason not to sleep,
Little legs achieve little dreams and withstand the tide-

Of cold winter breezes, frosty nosed sneezes, icy flakes
blowing in her eyes- She knows the pleasure is with the work,
and so she keeps going, though she falls, she tries,
to regain her balance, and lift her knees higher,
she trudges with purpose, and failure unknown-
With my whole heart I pray, that with each passing day,
she remembers these moments, when her little legs are grown.

A safe place to put a simple story,
A safe that comes with a lock and key,
A safe place where I can read and remember,
What you once meant to me-

Safety doesn't come in numbers.
It is not money, nor intellect, nor fame.
Safety isn't secured by armies and weapons,
Safety isn't found in an anonymous name.

I once thought safe meant barricaded.
I once sought safety in your arms.
I learned I was not safe but subjected-
To each vile deed a criminal farms.

By your hands my body you raze.
By my will, your wrong will faze,
the mind with which you profess to see,
the fading bruises, black, purple, cherry.

Where did that last tear go?
I thought I kept it here.
Bloody hell, where is that tear?
I simply just don't know.
I think it dropped below.
I'm sure it is not near.
Where did you put your spear?
Grab it with an arrow.

Such small things are easily lost.
Such small things can't be kept.
Such small things, so great the cost.
Yet to suppress this tide, I am inept.
In the name of the father's holy ghost-
I wish I never wept.

The wind winds the leaves
The leaves float upon the waves
They shall never fall

The world is whitewashed
Snow lay upon the old earth
The drifts grow deeper

Rain spills from the clouds
Everywhere the flowers grow
Their struggle never ceases

The sun burns like love
The ocean spray beckons now
Each wave brings new fish

Tic-toc sounds the time
Calendar pages tear off

Salacious gossip slips and slides.
It is slop for silly swine to swallow-
Slime slush to sprawl in.

Sweet songs soften like salve
and sparkle scrutiny of speculation.
See the smut exeunt?

Once upon an afternoon,
Half-past a frosty morn,
Fluffy flakes flutter.
Frozen smile so forlorn.

Flip on slippers.
Slip Slip around the floor.
Two feet flop toward the foyer.
Find the newspaper at the door.

Follow footsteps flipping fast.
Questions in quandary but never asked.
Doggedly prepare repast.
Mouthing motions may outlast.

The words which were wisely wasted,
are needlessly noted, cut, and pasted.

Ring the bells and clang the crystal.
With the new year you arrived.
Eyes wide open, heart still hoping,
Love's paradox survived.

Ring the bells and kiss farewell,
New Year's tide has passed.
Eyes wide open, smiles still glowing,
Friendship like the champagne overflowing.