Hearth Fire

mom I love the way you love warm folding of laundry soft fuzzy robes drying dishes, the game of where to put them you rubbing my hands and feet always present for me here beyond memory so let synapses misfire let brains tinder the fire of smiling hearts I thought...

Beauty Does Not Stay Down

before you mourn your mom smiling out from behind the gauze of her disease, remember beauty will not sit down before you expect your dad to be reasonable, to let go of both mom and who he is this instant, remember beauty will not sit down before you ask your cousin,...

Second Wife

Dear spouse, I want to tell you about grief. No, I don’t. I want to tell you about me – the woman emerging from the ocean in winter, naked. The wife you loved and knew died in my arms yesterday. You’ll be living with me now: Wife 2.0. Lucky man. First the good news. I...

Beside the House of Worship

Like every poem I blog, this is a draft poem in progress. But this one I’m pretty certain will make it into the next book. It came almost entirely on it’s own. I was trying to write something else, at a terrific workshop with WA-state poet laureate,...