I'd bet the world,
if it were mine to bet,
That the flavors of your lips
would open themselves,
one by one,
Like the chapters of a book
about a sad girl
who swears
that she doesn't want to be saved

Just thinking about seeing you, tonight,
Makes my eyes water
And my head spin
With various aspects of crazy.

I am considering (and trying to find an excuse)
To abandon a cosy dinner in a candlelit restaurant
For two hours in the rain, watching a Disney movie,
just so I can see your face.

Of course, I’m hoping there’ll be a resurrection
Of longing glances, whispered messages
And later, electronic conniving
Of the kind we have both been avoiding.

It won’t happen,
But I will derive a certain sick comfort
In seeing you there, in the rain,
Watching it trickle over your beautiful face
And wanting to kiss it away.  

I will be happier, and more comfortable
Squirming there in rain-soaked clothes
Than sipping top price Burgundy in you-know-where
With you-know-who.

But I know what I need to do,
The sensible thing, the only thing I can.
I'll leave you there, dewy and delicious
Kissed by rain, and wishing it was me.

We made plans in college
We'd graduate, then teach
But, a phone call from the doctor
put those plans out of reach

I remember sitting quietly
As I heard the old man say
"You're going to have a baby"
I guess Life Gets In The Way

Life Gets in The Way my dear
Life Gets in The Way
We'll put our plans on hold my dear
Until another day
Don't worry, things will all work out
No matter what folks say
We just have to face the fact my dear
That Life Gets In The Way

You quit to raise our children
We had two, one on the way
It's funny just what happens
When Life Gets in The Way

I remember that fall morning
The news the doctor had to say
It still hurts me to remember
When Life Gets In The Way

Life Gets in The Way my dear
Life Gets in The Way
We'll put our plans on hold my dear
Until another day
Don't worry, things will all work out
No matter what folks say
We just have to face the fact my dear
That Life Gets In The Way


Time has passed, there's grandkids now
Like you, they love the beach
Kelsey, Michael's  youngest
Wants to grow up and to teach

I wish that you could see them
As they run around and play
But, Cancer took you from me
Because Life Got in The Way

I think of you, your smile
And how you'd look at me and say
We will once more be together
Unless...Life Gets In The Way

Life Gets in The Way my dear
Life Gets in The Way
We'll put our plans on hold my dear
Until another day
Don't worry, things will all work out
No matter what folks say
We just have to face the fact my dear
That Life Gets In The Way

I've always been jealous of leaves

because they have the luxury of dying
with the promise of being reborn
in a few months' time
even brighter and more
beautiful than before

    sometimes I want to die
but death is such a big commitment and
I've never been a fan
of permanence

I miss you
but
not in the a-piece-of-me-is-missing-when-you're-gone
kind of way
I miss you in the
I'm-okay-with-being-alone-but-I-like-it-better-when-you're-ar­ound
kind of way and I think that
that is a pretty healthy way to feel

It took me a very long time
to realize that I was whole

    and I'm not so scared of winter anymore

Black coffee, closed book, no mystery.
She is defined.
A word in the dictionary with one line.
One tense.
One meaning.
She is the word you must look up to understand
But once you do.
You know her.
Like the north star you know her.
Why she shines, where she is.
Why she cries and who she smiles for.
Perhaps one day
Someone will look her up.
And make an honest woman out of her.
But until then she is nothing but black coffee, closed books.
And mystery.