To Be Astonished 

Breezes out of nowhere effervesce 

across our whispering tongues, midday 

light scatters her heady fragrance 

far beyond boyhood’s red bicycles, rooftop 

escapades, mischief-making 

job descriptions and voluptuous 

caramel sundaes taken in ecstatic 

silence on creaky drugstore stools, lips

smacking the only sound. Later 

those Saturday afternoon movie screens 

hurling magic towards beguiled eyes 

like flames blowtorched from a mighty 

dragon.  Nothing could match 

that freedom then, that flying 

through space shoelaces flapping, 

grinning and cavorting, belly laughing,

where even freckles pack dancing shoes. 

 Earth Quakes

A glass table shatters

like a family

after the affair

or the woman’s cry

as she hears

that awful diagnosis. 

Tiny jewels fallen

into cracks, shards

of what was once 

a stable place for wine

and plates of food,

now scattered aimlessly 

across this surface remind

us of life’s intrinsic 

fragility and our naked

thirst for certainty.  

Such urgency unslaked.

How this next hungry

breath might be 

our last, 

or the newborn’s pink

and lusty first, lips 

quivering she leans

towards the mirror 

of shimmering 

fulfillment, then 

takes a sip. 

 A Pasta-ed Life

When a woman

With two first names

Exclaimed to me

‘You’re a noodler’

As I carefully placed

Each bit of bark

Back in my yard

From the sidewalk 

Onto which it strayed,

I initially cringed 

At the comparison

To a limp tube of flour,

Egg and salt afloat

In a boiling pot of water. 

But now that I’ve seen

The light, having a mind

Comprised of compulsive

Habits like a bowl

Of rigatoni 

Piled high and

Arranged perfectly or

Like a poem that enchants

With each line repeatedly

In rhyme,

Is satisfying beyond

All words, a compliment

Sublime. 

 Looming 

Although

I’ve never seen nor

Heard her

When traipsing

Upon my nearby

Mountain among

Sumac blooming and

Fields singing jagged

Stones,

Something in me knows

There’s a sleek

And muscled 

Cougar hidden,

Prowling behind

Boulders big as cars—

In silence yes she’s stalking,

Creeping slowly, always

Looming and then,

With uneasy

Shallow breathing,

I’m bound for safety

Where my truck is waiting

And for the mildness

Of home,

Where with luck,

(And uneaten)

I’ll soon be

Drinking coffee

Chuckling 

At my folly, content

With this desire

For all that’s woven

Wild and unseen.