Six One

Notes to Self

Don't spend July
Spine curled and crooked
Like the internet is some sweet fruit
Equal to wild blackberries.

Today is my birthday
Mom says the day I arrived
Was so hot in Kansas
She thought she would die.

That makes sense
Born from the hot oven
Heat lives on my back
Like coals ready to ignite.

Cool me off, Slow me down.
Wrap me in soft breezes,
Dress me in fall leaves,
Please, give me ice cream.

Maya

(Written in 2012 after seeing May Angelou speak)


You said last night 
with your trombone voice
that you write poetry for yourself
when things aren't going right

And your six year silence
made you a better listener 
and a lover of words

I love words too
And I'm silent sometimes too
When I have nothing to say
And I know 

Words may not kill someone
But they can surely
Cause a piece of you to 
be very very quiet.

The Accident

The girl cried and I hugged her.

She dropped her water bottle,

Smashed into the car in front of her,

Which smashed into me.

This traveled me to another place.

I could see clearly now

There are little spaces in life

Spider webby things resting

So fragile and tentative

On leafy edges

Totally dependent

On which way the wind blows.