~


I see his face in the smoke
      though he has only gone fourteen days
I feel the weight of absenteeism

It is only proper for a twenty year old man
              to leave the nest
strike out on his own and find his way in the world

                  it is only normal for me to suffer this loss
                      for I not only have lost a son
                               but a friend

but loss to too harsh
      four hours travel time is not eternity
                     it is distance
                         and that space holds weight

this is a positive story
      of evolution and growth
natural order and regular happenings
I can’t help
feeling sad
            
               I might be wanted and loved
                    but I am no longer needed  /

Autumn gels come to life with November
Sun , with a bluesy sky , with Sycamore mannequins
Red shapes parachuting into brown , cool weather
grass
I'm wearing my brown hooded coat once again
Reading bubble gum cartoons perched on a granite
retaining wall , Mother calling her kids to lunch
Leaving black Hush Puppies at the front door
Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches , butterscotch
pudding , midday naps
Awakened by the swirling wind of Fall , with cobalt blue canopy and
hardwood giants* ...

~





like a pendulous cow udder

    taut and round



            the morning clouds
                                               seemed to ask




would you like a drink of rain  /

~


yellowing birch leaf
   suctioned to a rounded river rock
shimmers

my attention is caught
        the gleam penetrates me
lasers shoot forth from my fingertips
                        bending light weaves
          the forest  
                            a basket

unable to keep my eyes open
      a warm wave washes over me
                 peaceful slumber descends

startled by a new predicament
       I find myself stuck
                  arms and legs outstretched
as if my body were attempting to locate
individual compass points
                  with alternate appendages
and yet, I feel elastic
    able to morph and elongate
               and out of the corner of my eye
                      I see my left hand
seem to shimmer with a yellow glow   /

~
soup spoon discontent
                    blasé over cream of

where is the spice
      everything lacks flavor

just another boring old bowl
                 brimming with bland

if only a greened sprig
            where placed atop this fare

maybe I could stomach
                    the thought   /

~



sagged jowls
     speckled with tinsel
             flop as raindrops
                 jump and fly  ~
after
     sad dark eyes
          seek my own
              momentarily joined
                   both of us sigh ~
his body is lumped with tumor
     his breathing ravaged by time
          I look down and well up
             soon I will lose my friend  ~
from a 10 week old fuzz ball
            unwilling to walk down stairs
    to a 13 year old lab-mastiff
             unwilling to go peacefully…
my heart breaks
my head swims
             at the thought
                    my old dog’s life
                          will soon end  /