Halloween

Halloween
doling extra candy in
her pink pillowcase

A Prayer for Holly and Santiago

We celebrate and bless
This love-struck day
And its solemn, joyful
Leap of faith

To Holly and Santiago
Love arrived unbidden,
In a tender gesture or gaze
Silently given

From Wyoming and Colombia
The arc of time and space
Gathered them inevitably
Into eternal embrace

May your love be embroidered
With patience and forgiveness
Adorned in devotion that
Like Cana’s wine is endless

And to mark that first fateful chance
Always make time to dance…

This is me reciting the poem I wrote for my sister's wedding.

river mist

river mist--
scullers row in unison
geese in their wake

woodpile

woodpile
rings of a spider's web span
the rings of an oak

Windswept prairie

Windswept prairie--
In autumn sage antelope
Prick their ears

Cold rain

Cold rain--
She smoothes her veil
Into place

*My little sister marries today!

Autumn walk

Autumn walk--
Leaves swirl 'round the neighbor's
New foreclosure sign

Falling leaves

falling leaves—
after chemo, he washes
what’s left of her hair

Falling leaf

Falling leaf--
In its slow surrender
Seduction

Hand-me-down

Stitching a button
This coat another year
Another child

Harvest moon

Harvest moon--
I recall my own hopeful
Gravidity

Autumn rain

Autumn rain--
Drawing down her
Dogeared favorite

Confession

Deathbed confession
Litany of acts
Left undone

Autumn proof

with Marty

Autumn proof--
Aroma of rising bread
Leavens the whole house

Dying light

Dying light--
Her last words linger
In the stillness

Frost

First frost--
The young man's voice cracks
For the first time