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He steps onto the stoop
In the cool mountain air,
Glances at the night sky,
Are there witches to scare?
Four years old, now not so sure
If he’s the monster tonight
Or if real ghosts and goblins
Will give him a fright.
A parade of costumed kids,
From fairy-tales to scary-tales,
They yell “trick-or-treat”
From behind frightful veils.
Latter at home he spills his bounty
Spread out on the floor,
Mom says, “Have a taste tonight,”
Two small pieces, no more.
She pulls off his costume and
Lays him in bed, turns off the light.
He lies awake and wonders
If monsters still roam the night.
I’ll hold your hand in mine to protect your heart
If you slip away, you’ll drift free like a child’s balloon, and
when you fall to the ground, your heart will be broken
and will shatter into a million pieces
Healed by time, your mended heart will grow back
with scars and cracks
The scars suppress memories of your pain,
cracks let hope seep in until your
heart once again fills with love
I’ll hold your hand in mine to protect your heart
If you slip away, you’ll drift free like a child’s balloon, and
I will spend a thousand years searching to find you again
We flew by the Sun,
My grandson and I,
On a witch’s broom
Custom made to fly.
We circled Venus and Uranus,
And Jupiter and Mars.
We flew on to the Milky Way,
And ate cookies surrounded by stars.
And when our fuel ran low
We landed on the Moon
Where the conductor said,
“The train will leave soon.”
“All aboard the Polar Express!”
He called, “Next stop planet Earth!”
We took our seats and fell asleep—
Waited to arrive at our berth.
We awoke on the sofa
Covered in Legos and spacemen,
And Cameron’s sweet voice,
“Grandpa, let’s do it again!”
WesTel is to telecom, as
Earth is to the Sun.
I orbit WesTel, like
the moon circles Earth.
Faster, faster, faster—
I spin.
Pulled away from—
all I know.
Spinning, spinning, spinning—
a centrifuge.
Extracting my soul—
consuming it whole.
a red bicycle lies crushed in the gutter,
you’re gone and i never said i love you
i didn’t have my brand on him—
we never got matching tattoos,
but we were happy together. you
knew that and took him anyway,
just because you could. and, now
i live alone in a life without hope.
i have never seen such
fury. my tiny geisha
turns on me.
fire lashes from her
mouth, almond eyes
slice me like a blade.
he lies to me once,
will lie again and again,
no remorse, no soul
all trust is foregone
i run in a wicked storm,
leave his heart to bleed
A tear forms in your eye,
And then another, and more
Until your eyelid is full and
They fall out and run down
Your cheek in single file
Spilling off your face and
Landing in your tepid tea.