#1610 morning xylophone

from the swooping telephone lines
last night's frost drip-drop drip-drops
this morning's silent xylophone
small splatters on the ground
and I am glad for this moment
for rising before my alarm could ring
for walking these few blocks
drip-drop
drip-drop

#1609 candles

it was all planned
the doctors were ready
the nurses were ready
the grandparents
the cameras
the gifts
and especially your Mum and I
everyone and everything was ready to go
everyone and everything except... you
and that is why you eat your cake the day after the first day of May

#1608 the mundane

give me a reason to yell and to hug
to fight and to kiss
give me purpose that is not a 7-letter trinket
let my heart bleed and cry and sweat
give me low lows and high highs
free to fall and sufficient to rise
teach me languages without grammar or syntax
this life in 2D is getting to me
give me height an depth
give me purpose that can break my soul

#1607 reflection

I wasn't angry at the bathroom mirror
it just happened to be there
and if you ask me who won
I'd have to ask, physically or emotionally
physically- I won
despite the bloody knuckles
emotionally- I'd say the mirror
came out on top

#1606 the eldest

slender and classy, divine
confident and vulnerable, alone
a leader, a daughter, a wife
protecting a time that is disappearing
like water through fingers
she clasps the half-handful
afraid of all it represents
she is forced to ignore reality

#1605 resale

the floors are clean
the tables and counters tidy
we walk around inside the box that is someone else's life
critiquing
and being reminded to find the positive
noting storage space, yard size, parking
and
resale

#1604 dented mailbox surrounded by shards of class

throwing bottles and tantrums
spray-painting overpasses and school walls
punching windows and kicking cans

telling off parents and turning up music
failing exams and potential
yelling obscenities and whispering prayers

this is where and why poetry lives

#1603 the current

my little boy, has a little toy
takes hear takes it there, takes it everywhere
one fine day he took it to the riverside, but the toy fell in the water wide
my little boy he walked home sad as could be, and happy for the memory
sad as could be, and happy for the memory

my little boy, he knows that toys don't flow upstream
the river takes what she takes, and brings what she brings
so that night he hoped that his toy, would find some other little boy
and my little boy fell asleep sad as could be, and happy for the memory
sad as could be, and happy for the memory

#1602 PITA

she frustrated me
pissed me off
made me lose my cool
did the exact opposite of what I wanted
ignored my attempts to help...
all without breaking a single rule
did I mention she impressed me

#1601 lame

it's showtime but I got nothing to show
the stands are full and my list is empty
they came to see me
they won't believe me
I got nothing to show
empty

#1600 aha

it's just one light
across the street, out my front window,it
flick-flick-flickers
flick-flick-flickers
flick-flick...
AHHHH!
it's been months
they're closed at night
and I never think of it in the day
because it's off
I'm not suggesting that I've ever imagined walking across the street and smashing the hell out of it with a hammer, Smash, Smash, Smash...
no. I'm just suggesting that I would not be disappointed if it got fixed or it burnt out

#1599 roots

I was made fun of for being something I didn't know I was
laughed at and kicked
though those bruises healed years ago, they still hurt
if pride and guilt had an incestual offspring
that is the emotion I feel most
self-hatred makes me do things to others
things I will never forgive
even if I learn to love me
who I am
I am at the carnival
alone
riding the scariest ride
but it malfunctioned, fell off it's axis
I'm flying
afraid of the fall