Opening

So

Much

Depends upon

A chainsaw, a pole,

Toes flexing inside boots,

Ladder bending against tree.

Limb frozen, fighting the cut

Rope tossed, knots tied, human

Limbs now ripping off tree's.

The watermelon___________ crack

Of wood loosing_________ wood.

It gives one last___________ thud.

We drag it to a______________ pile

Of other missives____________torn

From their bodies.___________ Our

Backyard opens a____________door

For the shed so much depends upon.

Labor without Production

Never to live on the page.
Words waiting
Ideas rioting
Pondered down to the depths
If researched relentlessly
You will never be
Work of genius.
A watched pot never boils.

Born This Way?

Brown-haired,

Brown-eyed,

Bundle of joy

You were—

Born this way.

Big sister,

Hard worker,

Dedicated musician

You were—

Born this way.

You played

The piano at four.

You were

The star of the high school musical.

You smiled

And you laughed with your Catholic school friends.

You admired

The toils of your parents to make a better life for themselves—for you.

You earned

Early admission at one of the top performing arts schools in the world.

You wrote

An eighty page thesis there.

You were—

Born this way.

But now you are

Trying so hard to convince us that

Dropping out,

Doing drugs (a lot then, a little now),

Bleaching and dying,

Baring almost all,

Decorating your body with abnormalities,

Adorning your product with jarring images,

Trying so hard,

You are,

To show you were

Born that way.

Gaga,

You’re not fooling anyone.

You were

More of a superstar

When you were born

Than now.

Monday Night Poem

Fabulous shame—

Bitter taste of words unspoken,

Burning gaze of expectation

Never fulfilled.

Coals of regret singeing my lungs—

With every sizzle, knowing

I didn’t let anyone down.

Rotten peace—

Words set free like doves

To be marked for hunters’ sport and

Shot through with a million jagged metal bits.

Twisting,

Writhing,

Tumbling from the sky.

Set free to die.