Olfactory Assault

Smell you from afar,

Potent scent assaulting me.

Abercrombie, Fitch.

Haunted

I am constantly 

Haunted by familiar men

Who walk with your step.

The Harpy

I am the Harpy,

Gorgon, Sphinx, and Siren all.

Fear ye woman's might?

Rainy Day

Drips on roof: music,

Rainbow-colored umbrellas,

Puddles invade shoes.

Ice Cream & Spandex

She dreams of a world

Of bliss, comfort, and joy, of

Ice cream and spandex.

LA Character

LA character:
Captain's hat, Mardi Gras beads

With a priest's collar

My Center

He is my center,

Where I go to be quiet.

Without? Turbulence.

Complacency

Complacency kills.

Three stitches may serve all but

Are not sufficient.

Snowflakes

Bought cookie iron
To press my ancestor's sweets

Large, chewy snowflakes

Dawn

Twinkling lights to bronze

As different as night and day

LA horizon

Cowgirl Boots

Child in cowgirl boots

Exercises fiercely and 

In a style her own.

I-405

A stagnant river;

I-405 tradition:

The nightly back-up.

Blessed by Jazz

Jazz runs in her veins,
Heartbeat swings: slow, quick, slow, quick.

The score of her life.

A.L.

Companion always,

Rock in my rushing river,

My joy and laughter.

Agrarian Delight

Egret reflections

And mirrored sunset displays;

Rice paddy twilight.

Bumblebee

Beautiful creature

Hovers, as if by magic;

Wondrous bumblebee.

Okay

"I'm okay," he says,

"Look at how okay I am."

But it's half the truth.

Winter's Arrival

Busy lives consumed,

Winter arrives suddenly,

Dark nights, candle light.

Silly Slang

Do you feel queasy?

Please do not upchuck, barf, yack, 

Or toss your cookies.

Falling

The same girl who feared

Falling on her diapered butt,

Still afraid to fall.

Annie

Old woman walking.

Strawberry-blonde mop, red top:
Senescent Annie.

Baby Nephew

Dimple-knuckled fists,

Legs that kick without malice,

Sweet, soft, innocent.

Un-hemmed

Born on a hilltop,

I ever hunger for air,

Open-space un-hemmed.

Foreign Verses

Beautiful verses

Of a life foreign to ours,

They teach us to love.

Rootless

Rootless, she worries

Family only knows her

By her stuffed suitcase.

Chop

Power in the chop,

Contrary to Samson's tale.

Cut loose, cathartic.

Grateful

Dumpster-mouthed woman:

Loud, liberated, and brash.

Cherish her freedom.

Learning Gray

Born in black and white--

Strict categories and rules--

'Til gray blooms in sight.

Bar Classics

Little lime slices,

Olives, and Maraschinos:

Old bartenders' flair.

Pan

Serious creatures,

We women often look for

Peter Pan in men.

In Mourning

Collective heartache,

Loss, fear, and sorrow become

Shared but no lighter.

Mmmm, Feelings

All of my feelings

Seem too cleverly disguised 

As comestibles.

Nov. 8th

This November eighth,

Hope battles fear, with prayers for

Madam President.

"Feminist"

Train missed its station:

This self-proclaimed feminist

Constantly mansplains.

More Trees

Mountainous refuge

Away from the neon buzz,

More trees than people.

Mental Snapshot

Sunlight through the pines,

Woodpeckers and crows sail by

On the horizon.

Math Slow

GRE prepping,

Worried I'll look math stupid--

Truth? Methodical.

This City

City of Magic

And Cinematic Dreamers,

Clogged with cars, bad air.

Regretless

Looking forward, so

Also reviewing the past —

Wouldn't change a thing.

Out My Window - LA Edition

Twinkling skyscrapers,

The Getty viewed through the fog,

Cherished LA views.

Retirement Reflection

My father retires;

They laud his integrity,

Hard work, and humor.

Post-modern Dance

Post-modern dancer,

Arms make arrhythmic gestures,

Motion-censor lights.

 

Souvenir

Patch below the knee,

Still just a numb sensation:

Car crash souvenir.

Showman

Man with trout duffel

Appears each Obamajam,

Showboats, loves the crowd.

Bus Pundits

Commuter pundits,

Speaking with authority

Unfounded but sure.

Stripped

Good poetry is—

When it's completely honest —

Public nudity.

Grandma Magdalena

Embroidery floss,

Stitching; My hands inhabit

Lost grandmother's world.

Acceptance

White hair?  Pluck!  Two more:

Pluck, pluck.  Too many to pluck...

Dart of gorgeous gray.

Award-Winning

Born over-thinker,

Gold-medal mental gymnast:

Always on duty.

Lived Reality

Plane flight. Career change.

Swiftly, reality shifts;

Future yet unsure.

Inked

Beautiful script inked

In prose descending her spine,

Denouement obscured.

Muscled Square

Muscle-bound in scrubs,

Square, he walks, arms lifted out

As if inflated.

Vivaldi

Vivaldi in church,

Organ, violin, voices

Redirect thoughts: peace.

Nature Clichés

Computer, staring.

Visualize nature clichés

'Bout impending change.

Mental Loop

Man with mental loop

Laughs as he repeats mantra.

Dear, cheerful stranger.

Blaring, Blaring, Blaring

Next-door daycare, hark!

Fire alarm blaring two hours.

No fire, sanity.

Hiding on a Bus

Bus talks with strangers,
"People who need people" types.
I hide behind books.