I knew

December, Saturday,

Maybe January,

Dreary and too soon dark

Together in the kitchen

More projects than energy

Both weary, too tired to care

You looked my way, caught my eye,

Said, again, “I love you.”

And I knew it was true.

AND IT IS GOOD

I guess hormones get things started,
creating some sense of social order,
maybe keeping the race alive.
 
Something other binds us,
whispering deep within
for almost forty years now.
 
Naming seems simplistic or incomplete
but it exists, we are together,
and it is good.

published in the Bellingham Herald 2.10.14

Read more here: http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2014/02/10/3463026/herald-readers-share-valentine.html#storylink=cpy

August Evening

it's national poetry day so i'm re-posting one of my favorites. 

August Evening

sitting next to Connie
old, hard, wooden stadium benches
red paint, chipped, gouged and peeling
she puts on her sweater
I put on my sweatshirt

band plays hits of some artist
we know little of and care less for
overbearing 80's synthesizer
annoys me
she doesn't seem to notice or care

beyond the stage I watch carnival rides
loop, spin and race into the evening
colored lights intensify
sky drifts to darkness

near full moon glows above the trees
growing smaller as it brightens
yellow to orange to almost white

we come to the fair almost every year
it's something we do
we learned this spring she has cancer
treatment, fear, hope shadow our days

we talk a bit, decide to leave
i am ready, but hesitate
how many more times we will go to the fair

merit award 2007 Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest

April Fool’s Day

I am re-posting this poem during this our anniversary (37th on 9.14) week. 

Someone should make a law
That we hold all weddings on April 1st
Because only fools would make
Those promises

Promises to
Put another person first and
Stick with them
No matter what happens

To love
To sacrificially give
All because of a promise;
It’s almost un-American

There are too many examples
Of failure and despair
Outsiders mock it,
Rationalize, and degrade it

Some lie through their teeth
They make the hollow promises
For convenience
To get what they want

But some, the true fools,
Still make the promises
Maybe their youthful zeal
Blinds them to what’s ahead

And some, more foolish yet,
Keep their promises
Not because it’s easy
Or because they meet all expectations

But true fools believe the promises matter
That love cannot be forced
That it’s sometimes found
By two fools

Who learn to laugh together

a child’s game

following Christmas vacation
our anticipation gradually builds
until the list is distributed
into our greedy hands

on a perfect white sheet
ditto, blue ink
the letters seem to melt,
fat and fading

I beg my mom to
take me to the store
to get the best cards
hoping for a comic favorite

socialism rules
it is a sum zero project
everybody gets one
enemies and friends

cards slip stealthily into
handmade, oversized pouches
covered in red, pink and white
taped to our desks

when the day arrives,
we watch the clock in agony
silently willing for time to pick up the pace,
for the party to begin

each year brings
a subtle awareness
that this is more than
a child’s game

Your Best Self

Allowing a machine—or
At least we think, hope it’s a machine—
To take on the role of deity
With guarantees of happiness
And compatibility?

I laugh at the TV commercials
Which try to verify the power
Of their system
Parading testimonials of couples
Engaged or even married for a year or two

They have not faced children
Or a family death
Or a job set back
Or even trivial things,
Like holiday traditions with in-laws

Go ahead,
Create yourself,
Your best self,
And push the button
Maybe you’ll get your “happily ever after”

But proceed with caution
See if you can make yourself forget
That your 97% match
Crafted their image
As well

August Evening

sitting next to Connie
old, hard, wooden stadium benches
red paint, chipped, gouged and peeling
she puts on her sweater
I put on my sweatshirt

band plays hits of some artist
we know little of and care less for
overbearing 80's synthesizer
annoys me
she doesn't seem to notice or care

beyond the stage I watch carnival rides
loop, spin and race into the evening
colored lights intensify
sky drifts to darkness

near full moon glows above the trees
growing smaller as it brightens
yellow to orange to almost white

we come to the fair almost every year
it's something we do
we learned this spring she has cancer
treatment, fear, hope shadow our days

we talk a bit, decide to leave
i am ready, but hesitate
how many more times we will go to the fair

merit award 2007 Sue C. Boynton Poetry Contest

April Fool’s Day

Someone should make a law
That we hold all weddings on April 1st
Because only fools would make
Those promises

Promises to
Put another person first and
Stick with them
No matter what happens

To love
To sacrificially give
All because of a promise;
It’s almost un-American

There are too many examples
Of failure and despair
Outsiders mock it,
Rationalize, and degrade it

Some lie through their teeth
They make the hollow promises
For convenience
To get what they want

But some, the true fools,
Still make the promises
Maybe their youthful zeal
Blinds them to what’s ahead

And some, more foolish yet,
Keep their promises
Not because it’s easy
Or because they meet all expectations

But true fools believe the promises matter
That love cannot be forced
That it’s sometimes found
By two fools

Who learn to laugh together