Boys scattered

First day in Sixth grade
seems so far away now

One of you has a four-year-old
little girl almost as big as we were

One of you is married
a boy turned a Marine

First day in Sixth grade
seems so far away now

Little girl is growing up with Grandma
in the same courtyard we shot up with BB guns

Marine is now en route to Afghanistan
with a non-combative MOS

Sixth grade is a fixed point as we travel
our lives drifting through different waters

I hope one day we will sit together again
and recall just how far we’ve come from those boys

Grown men in our Sixties enjoying life
reminiscing on the same Sixth grade stories

Until then, travel safely my brothers
and always remember where home stays

the wait

curly and straight
in either pair of jeans
the first set of earrings
or first anything you showed me
will not make you any less
or any more beautiful
you are what you are
let’s just go

alone

Unlike Descartes
I love, therefore I am
and you bring me to life

I am fallible
in fact, I will surely fail
but I will continue to try

Please don’t erase this truth
never let go of my hand
tossing me into solipsism

fishing and skating

The auger had made short work of the ice
old holes redrilled and baited with spring-propped flags
it was going to be another day at the lake
then the neighbor showed up
and we had more than just the tall boys for entertainment
the father had a bobcat tractor equipped with plow
we laughed at the prospected project
an ice skating rink for his family
slowly, he cleared icy strip by icy strip
a second job on a Friday afternoon

The next day he showed up again to continue work
our chuckles turned to admiration
in the cold which we were bundled for
made him steam from working
made him steam like the water he brought out
one bucket at a time he poured onto the boiled water
a liquid iron to the ruffled tuxedo shirt
this smoothed out the ripples of the frozen lake

Sunday came and our fishing was done
from between trees like seen through curtains
a touching picture came into view
the neighbor’s child was now with him
on the mirrored surface he had created
a father’s work culminated in this moment
we were happy to watch from the warm cabin
eating the catch of our own frozen times

Prompt:

http://weekendwordsmith.blogspot.com/2010/01/134-skates.html

Morning in Amesbury

My nose and the faucet both drip

the sounds crisp against passing cars

the house is still and just past noon

cold air urges lazy bones to seek the shelter of blankets

and warm bodies

this is a home, despite the chill

all are comforted in the presence of family

taking the sharp edges of sound

and covering them in down embraces

leaving muffled silence and happy thoughts

a sword laid down

it has been long since the first time
I got up after speaking with you for a while
the casualties of the night lay around us
the remaining survivors were engrossed in their worlds
so when I asked if you were tired, you obliged
a simple question with so many pitfalls

now years later we have our own battles to fight
some not as fun as those simple arguments from at first
delving more into the essences of what we want from one another
taking a hard spoon to scrape for the remainder of tasty soul
we make sure we know that life is there in each other

each one of those nights we spend laying in armistice
and every battle cry fought together or against the other
all have brought me to the realization that there is proof
in the electricity you emit with every kiss, still so long after our first
allowing a proud warrior to be bested happily with honor

hurt

tea won’t warm me where I’m cold
the pills don’t soothe what ails me
as I sit here and sweat it out
all I want is your body next to mine
under a comforter in your bed
feeling the dance of our breaths
purging the evils from my thoughts
and absorbing your eucalyptus aura
giving me solace while I hurt

maple maiden

At first I saw you with adolescent eyes
knowing only that you were a great tree
and as I contemplated your design
my heart wanted to play
so at first I climbed your branches
sitting, resting by your side, in your canopy
as I grew older, we bonded closer
your roots establishing your tenure
protruding from the ground, offering a seat
comforting me when I came to find you
then finally one day, you loved me too
showing yourself, your heart yielded
and I, seeing your love’s spring tapped
collected your nectar, your life’s blood
boiling it down to make sweet syrup
to amplify my life in your lingering taste
my maple maiden, stand tall with me
forever offering a nook to nestle into

fools’ gold

tattered clothes on a park bench
a rusty shopping cart full of neglecteds
oily hair on a ski-capped head
too many layers for the summer sun
continually on the move
except for now they sit together
a recovered knife splits an apple
equal halves shared in kindness
she apparently likes her skin off
and he discards only the core
hands wiped on a towel on the cart
a comb produced for a moment to groom
like a little girl, the world is hers
through falling markets and rising ones
their stock holds no bearing on the tickers
it’s in their hearts, vaults which harbor gold
hand in hand pushing their cart
happy in rags they walk together in love