Poems from 1997
Baby Dreams 28Jan97 1:30 a.m.
Since having you
I have learned babies dream
Your eyes move
in the dance of REM
You twitch,
murmur & suck
your fist or lips
But what do you dream?
Do you dream
womb sounds -
of heart-rhythm
and belly-gurgle -
of breathing water
and the oceanic
waves of mother movement?
Do you dream
of your birth?
Of that compressing
passage from dark to light?
Do you dream
milk dreams?
Of warm sweet taste
and mother-breast smell
Of the touch of skin
against your chin
and the rhythm
of mother-heart under your tongue?
Or do you dream
of mysteries that lie
between the angels & God
& babes unborn -
of things you can barely now remember?
What, my beloved child,
do you dream?
5:30 a.m. 25Mar97
Coffee & the morning
I have always loved the smell
of morning drifted with the aroma
of brewing coffee, golden toasting
bread and warm fuzzed
bodies fresh from soft beds
of grandma’s handmade quilts
re-made 30Mar97 9:52 p.m.
the dreams have started again
teaching me many things
that life has left the lessons
for without my knowledge
in the latest pathways
I walk again
where I once lived
and faced the choices
I once made
this time
when I met him
and he said
“Come with me.
Be what I want you to be.
Do what I tell you to do.”
I said
no
before I walked away.
summer heat 03Sept97
the other day
when it was 90
outside & the wind
through my car window
was like the draft
of an oven
coated with the smell
of burnt tar &
baking flowers
i thought of you
my summer fellows
of years not now
i miss you each
and each for
a different reason…
or four
but also
i’m glad you’re
gone, each
i’m glad i’m
me
alone and even
summers from now
when the sun
has baked the even-ness
into my soul,
then
maybe, but not surely
I will share summer flowers again
dressed up 03Sept97
old shrunken men
dressed in the suits
they wore in youth
look like little boys
playing in daddy’s clothes
old women
wearing slick
polyester
of floral nature
stand in bouquets
with grandchildren ribbons
and those of us
between the old and the new
noticing death
but not yet familiar
nor yet friends
wear fashionable clothes
and wander through the crowd
and learn how to say good-bye
today 03Sept97
you waved today
a deliberate movement
of hand and arm
that has been 7 months
in coming
already you roll
from wall to wall
the floor is conquered
your kingdom
complete
with your jester
the dog
you laugh in your sleep
roll your eyes with dreams
and upon waking
talk to your fingers
in finite time
I’ve seen you develop
make more deliberate motions
more deliberate sounds
I’ve seen you find moods
preferences & ideas
so soon,
these little things
will fade
but for today…
You Waved!
I am angry with you 03Sept97
for taking the easy way out
for assuming
for pity & whining & lack
for betrayal
for taking
for not giving
for being willing to leave
for hurting
I am angry with you
Since having you
I have learned babies dream
Your eyes move
in the dance of REM
You twitch,
murmur & suck
your fist or lips
But what do you dream?
Do you dream
womb sounds -
of heart-rhythm
and belly-gurgle -
of breathing water
and the oceanic
waves of mother movement?
Do you dream
of your birth?
Of that compressing
passage from dark to light?
Do you dream
milk dreams?
Of warm sweet taste
and mother-breast smell
Of the touch of skin
against your chin
and the rhythm
of mother-heart under your tongue?
Or do you dream
of mysteries that lie
between the angels & God
& babes unborn -
of things you can barely now remember?
What, my beloved child,
do you dream?
5:30 a.m. 25Mar97
Coffee & the morning
I have always loved the smell
of morning drifted with the aroma
of brewing coffee, golden toasting
bread and warm fuzzed
bodies fresh from soft beds
of grandma’s handmade quilts
re-made 30Mar97 9:52 p.m.
the dreams have started again
teaching me many things
that life has left the lessons
for without my knowledge
in the latest pathways
I walk again
where I once lived
and faced the choices
I once made
this time
when I met him
and he said
“Come with me.
Be what I want you to be.
Do what I tell you to do.”
I said
no
before I walked away.
summer heat 03Sept97
the other day
when it was 90
outside & the wind
through my car window
was like the draft
of an oven
coated with the smell
of burnt tar &
baking flowers
i thought of you
my summer fellows
of years not now
i miss you each
and each for
a different reason…
or four
but also
i’m glad you’re
gone, each
i’m glad i’m
me
alone and even
summers from now
when the sun
has baked the even-ness
into my soul,
then
maybe, but not surely
I will share summer flowers again
dressed up 03Sept97
old shrunken men
dressed in the suits
they wore in youth
look like little boys
playing in daddy’s clothes
old women
wearing slick
polyester
of floral nature
stand in bouquets
with grandchildren ribbons
and those of us
between the old and the new
noticing death
but not yet familiar
nor yet friends
wear fashionable clothes
and wander through the crowd
and learn how to say good-bye
today 03Sept97
you waved today
a deliberate movement
of hand and arm
that has been 7 months
in coming
already you roll
from wall to wall
the floor is conquered
your kingdom
complete
with your jester
the dog
you laugh in your sleep
roll your eyes with dreams
and upon waking
talk to your fingers
in finite time
I’ve seen you develop
make more deliberate motions
more deliberate sounds
I’ve seen you find moods
preferences & ideas
so soon,
these little things
will fade
but for today…
You Waved!
I am angry with you 03Sept97
for taking the easy way out
for assuming
for pity & whining & lack
for betrayal
for taking
for not giving
for being willing to leave
for hurting
I am angry with you
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