origami spirits

​

We fold our souls like

paper boxes. Hidden, till

rain soaked, they unfurl.

​

​

whatever works

​

I fight my battles

with armor of pure Golden

Oreos. Foolproof.

​

​

outside my window

​

Menacing Mount Should

obscures the sacred blooms of

the Garden of Is.

​

a bitter sweet​

​

Regrets, melted in

like warm caramel,

refuse to unbind.

​

​

elizabeth's attitudes

(a series of haiku)

​

Money. The root of
nothing. A lush blossom of
possibility.

Power. Soul’s raw force.
Sparks of light, guided by grace.
Truth, galvanized.

Praise. Lacking for most.
Lovely, but not always love.
Best reserved for God?

Rivals. Sure path to
ruining a perfectly 
good game. 

All work and no play
makes an ego-driven mind
jump for joy. Gotcha.

​

 

then and now

​

Technicolor world

once swam in sepia. Now

songs spring from whispers.

​

 

square peg

​

Familiar. Presumed

to constrict. Must hide, play small.

Soul shrinks. Heart gets squished.

 

 

the cusp

 

The sun nods early,

as Boreas taunts the swift

November air. Soon.

 

​

fall

 

Hydrangea blooms, brown

and brittle, clinging to stems,

dancing with each gust.

 

​

if i weren't afraid

 

Shortcomings and shame

sharing every shimm’ring stage.

Shadow serenade.

​

 

no-good nurse

 

Mom has a new knee,

and I have a new patient.

Percocet for two? ;)

​

 

fierce

 

Inner critic roars,

Why did you...?! Why didn’t you...?!

This time, I roar back.

 

 

off to school

(a tanka) 

 

Little bags of cheese,

Shredded of course, with Goldfish,

And salami, sliced.

Three-year-old hands grip a Toy

Story lunch box. So grown up.

 

​

off to college

 

Even his bed? Gone?

Tricky thing, this letting go.

Shattering success.

 

 

preserved

​

There was a camera.

Wasn’t there always? How else

To enshrine her faults?

​

 

hollow

 

Vacant guitar case,

Left while blowing out of town.

Emptiness spills out.

​

 

grandma

​

Red, sticky sugar.

Hung for love of hummingbirds,

Shared for love of me.

​

​

the best gift

​

A four-foot mansion.

Corduroy. Macrame. Shag.

Grandpa's skills amaze.

​

​

playing with fire

 

The flames of his pain—

Fear, loneliness—devour

My boundaries.  Again.

​

​

heart

​

A mother’s children,

Held like petals by a stem,

Once released, float free.

​

​

confidence

​

Confidence. I am

completely certain that I

can keep a secret. :)

​

​

think (a free-form haiku)

​

Rumination:

The Curiosity

family's black sheep.

​

​

infected?

​

As the worm spreads, each

device—every viral bit—

blasts: YOU. ARE. ENOUGH.

​

​

all in our heads (a tanka)

​

The Beast's imposing

castle—through forced perspective

only—looms above

Fantasyland, as beliefs

dressed as truths e'er deceive us.

​