Free
Verse
Summer
Day
abuzz beside a wall
of rhododendron . . .
chin drops to chest
slow as honey
I’m deep inside
a golden hive
Annual
Lament
1998: If only I had a
lover
1999: If only I had met him sooner
2000: If only he wasn’t married
2001: If only we had a weekend together
2002: If only she’d divorce him
2003: If only divorces were quicker
2004: If only he didn’t have kids
2005: If only he liked my son
2006: If only he didn’t comb his hair over his bald spot
2007: If only he’d stop calling me a nag
2008: If only I’d never met him
2009: If only I had a lover
In
Dreams I Fly
I’m standing in a hotel
lobby,
beside the first step of a curving staircase.
Suddenly lift off. I rise
like Canaveral’s shuttle
without the flames.
Everyone’s bug-eyed.
What a kick.
Before I hit the ceiling
I level off, belly down, arms outstretched
like Superman reaching toward the future.
Outdoors, I sail above a picture book
of sidewalks, houses, lawns and rolling hills.
A girl jumps rope, a dog runs toward a frisbee.
It’s perfect Pleasantville,
clean and not a gun in sight.
I wake to my gray and grounded world.
Wingless, I plan the day.
Yes /
No
yes cried Molly Bloom
no will not escape my throat
breath a cord around my neck
heart a high-speed shutter no
to the hand that breaks privacy
no to probing fingers no
fear of mother hearing
fear of father watching
fear of brother touching
no makes desire grow
