My first reading memory
Is leafing through those books
When I was just a child
And they hold for me everything
Of home.

They sit in my house now
Separated from my roots
By thousands of miles,
But they’ll always be yours
And when I look at them
I think of you happy,
Alive and full of smiles.

TRIBUTE TO A STRONG MOTHER

A lady, one day, found herself in a place
Where she never thought she would be
And lived every day with an inner grace
And strength that’s still a mystery to me.
She reared her brood with a strong sense of self
Shuffling Shakespeare with delft.

CURTAIN CALL

Our mother has been taken away,
Stolen by a loathsome thief
Who sneaked into the house
One day when Daddy was gone
And left a brittle carapace
In her place.
And
But now it’s not all rocks rolling down
Sometimes life is soft as eider down
Like the comforter you pull about your head
When you slide back into your bed.

And you must know we miss you here
And count the days until we hear
Your beautiful voice dripping down the phone
Saying tomorrow, tomorrow I’ll be home.

HOMELESS BOY

Last night
I thought my heart would break
As I ran through the rain
Around my lake.
A young man, much like you,
But no mother calling him to dinner,
Dragged his feet, his eyes full on the ground,
All his belongings hung from his back
And I wanted to stop him and ask,
Why don’t you go back?
But no words came
And in my gratitude and shame
I ran on through the rain.

A COMING OF AGE

A shock to the mind and the body
Being nose to nose with a sudden adult,
Eyes wild and nostrils flaring
Feeling his way over my bones.

No longer the guide
No longer the safe haven
No longer looked to for comfort,
Or anything else.

The whole universe has shifted
Slightly, drenching all
In the tidal wave of its wake
As it overwhelms and engulfs
Like the wide eyes and angry voice
Of the stranger that