Liquid Heart

Your eyes are sparkling
like your mama's diamond ring,
one hand wrapped 'round my finger
and one hand in the air.
A giggle bubbles up
like an overflowing cup.
Smile like a work of art
makes for mama's liquid heart.

A Library Book

I thought the book was good,
but she thought it was tearable.
She liked one page a lot.
I hope the fine is bearable.

Nine Months

You've been outside as much as in.
That's quite the milestone.
In eighteen total months of life,
just look how much you've grown!

Feet

My right foot is quite comfortable.
It wears a pink-striped sock.
My left foot, though, is bare and cold,
like a river rock.
I have two seasons sitting here,
two textures when I walk.

Friends

Friends will call and help you know
that rain will fall and grass will show
and spring will come and poems will flow.

Who Knew?

Who knew it was going to be so hard?
Who knew life wasn't easy or fair?
Who knew? And who was gonna care?
Who knew?
You knew.
And you were there.

Sunshine Blues

I need a little bit of sunshine in my life.
I don't need parties. I don't need spice.
I just gotta have some vitamin D synthesized.
Oh, I need some sunshine in my life.

Only So Much You Can Do

It seems I have no time
if I wake up late
but when I wake up early
I can't stay up past eight.
I'd like to need less sleep.
My baby'd like that too.
But we're getting ready for bed.
There's only so much you can do!

Laundry

This week
the way you grab the clean laundry out of the basket
looks a little more like the way I do it
compared to the way you did it last week
and at this rate
will I ever have to teach you to fold the laundry?
Or will I just
show you and show you?

If Gas Were Free

If gas were free
I would know this town,
not inside, but out,
just from driving up and down.
If gas were free
we'd wear out these treads--
like the back page of an atlas
that's been well used, well read.
If gas were free
we'd be in the car,
and you'd be soothed to sleep
by the tones of NPR.

Strong Consciousness

"Why doesn't she stay asleep?"
I beg with a sigh.
"Our baby has a strong consciousness,"
is my husband's reply,
as she rolls to a crawl and agrees
with a twinkle in her eye.

Privacy

I've written poems you'll never see.
They're as not-for-you as a life at sea.
It's just a matter of privacy.

Holding Pattern

We're in a holding pattern,
not sure where to land,
and we're not just going to settle
for just any patch of sand.
We're not planning how to crash;
we're not running out of fuel.
We are looking how to ground ourselves
to work towards earth's renewal.

If All the Broken Glass in Bogotá

If all the broken glass in Bogotá
came to a point
and held itself together
with fine lead at every joint,
and the glow that tints the clouds
in the dark of night
came in close and shone straight through that glass
in one tremendous light,
and if every siren, engine, horn
all were rearranged
in just one joyful symphony,
now that would be a change.

Random

Thank God the state of my house doesn't determine the state of my soul,
because no matter how hard I try, they both are beyond my control.
Interior design wouldn't make me more alive, righteous or wise.
I think I'll label this shelf "random" just so I feel organized.

The Highest Shelf

We put the Bibles on the highest shelf,
a place of honor we can hardly reach.
But when God gave His Word and gave Himself,
he stooped down low to heal and save and teach.

Relatively Easy

Would it be easier for you to build bookshelves
or to get rid of books?

Getting rid of books is harder than it looks.
But keeping them means shelving them
and dusting them
and moving them
and sometimes even using them
as decor upon the mantel
when you have more books than you can handle.
Reading them?
Well, that can wait
until we move to a place
more than half a city block from the library.
Get rid of them?
We already have.
What we have is already half
of what we had had. Yes. Scary.
We only kept our favorite books--
books about God, theology, linguistics, Middle Earth,
cooking, metallurgy, Mt. Rainier, Spanish…
and we kept a few good books on woodworking,
but we didn't consult them before building the bookshelves
because building bookshelves is relatively easy.

Bright-Eyed Chickens

We made the chickens' ladder steep--
the length too short, the drop too deep.
But in the morning, it is fun
to see the chickens jump and run.
And the clouds are pink and gray
as bright-eyed chickens greet the day.

Benefit of the Doubt

I know I'm s'posed to love my neighbor,
but how'm I s'posed to love these strangers?
I see their cars; they come and go,
but the people I don't know.
So while I figure this one out,
I'll give the benefit of the doubt
to these neighbors I can't name
and hope that they'll give back the same.

Flow Meter

I think I need one of those
flow meters for my nose
so I can measure all this snot
'cause all I know is there's a lot.

Feeling Young

Oh yes, there are days

when I ask, "What have I done?"

and the answer is so little,

but I'm still feeling young.

Oh yes, there are days

when I ask, "What are we doing?"

Like a midlife crisis,

except I'm feeling young.

I'm feeling like I've done enough for my age.

I'm feeling like I'm on the right track for this stage.

I'm feeling strengthened, though I stumble and fall.

Even youths do that, after all. 

Oh yes, there are years

I ask "What was that for?"

And I know that someday

I won't feel young anymore.

But I'm not discouraged.

When it's all said and done,

I've got a long ways to go 

and I'm still feeling young.

Lost Poems

There's lots of poems lost in the dark
because they failed to make a mark.
Flung from the bow inside my mind,
they wander, but they'll never find
a place to land in outer space
before they break, disintegrate
or burn up in the atmosphere
and fall to earth, far far from here
outside a ghostly desert town
because they were not written down.

Because I Love You

I'm giving you a kiss because I love you,
but I could also give a word,
or I could hold you,
or give a gift,
or walk with you to someplace new,
all because I love you.

But I'm giving you a kiss
because I have no words to say.
I'm giving you a kiss
because my back is weak today.
I'm giving you a kiss
because a gift would cost money.
I'm giving you a kiss
because the weather's far from sunny.

No, wait, let's get this straight.
I'm giving you a kiss because I love you.

Catching Up

When I catch up with people,
I get behind on projects.
When I catch up on projects,
I get behind on sleep.
But when you catch up on sleep,
I catch up on everything.

When We Get Back

Home again, home again,
unpackity-pack.
There's lots of unpacking
when we get back.
And laundry, and emails,
and four-hour naps.

Home again, home again,
unpackity-pack.

Why Live Anywhere

We want to know where you will live
but you have no reply to give.
You could settle here or there.
You could live just anywhere.

Why live, why live,
why live anywhere?
We seem to land just where we fall.
It matters a lot, but hardly at all.
We go on living wherever we are,
so settle near or settle far.

Just have a reason to be there--
but why live anywhere?

And here we are in this here town

that is, for now, our stomping grounds,

but we could move a hundred miles

to the same stores, and streets and styles.

But here we have family and friends,

some roots, some length, and some split ends.

If those things are what life's about

we'll find them within and we'll find them without.

So why live, why live,
why live anywhere?
We seem to land just where we fall.
It matters a lot, but hardly at all.
We go on living wherever we are,
so settle near or settle far.

Just have a reason to be there--
but why live anywhere?

If you ask this question too,
let's move together to a big commune,
and find life's meaning and relocation's end
but even there, we'd miss our friends.


So why live, why live,
why live anywhere?
We seem to land just where we fall.
It matters a lot, but hardly at all.
We go on living wherever we are,
so settle near or settle far.

Just have a reason to be there--
but why live anywhere?

Just Like They're Doing Now

A whole sanctuary of people
thinking about the day they said their own vows
on a day like today, just like they're doing now.
Or wondering how it will be
and asking, "Who's out there for me?"
And we all know that love is beautiful.
And also, it is hard.

Happy Last Day

Happy last day of being relatively sad!
Your wedding's tomorrow, and we're all glad.
Last day to be free of the joy to be found
when you let your heart be lovingly bound.

Morning Coffee

I hope you made good tips last night,

because I sure missed you.

And if you'd come home early,

to be sure I would have kissed you.

But here you are, my favorite sight,

next to me by morning light.

However you did, you've done what's right.

Here's some coffee to assist you.

Get Ahead

Get ahead.
Get a head;
use the one on your shoulders.
Start anew.
Start a new
year, another year older.

Resolutions

It's easy to make resolutions when half your life must change.
It's easy to move things in your mind and see them rearrange.
It's day-to-day to make a plan,
it's harder yet to make a stand,
but it would be hardest of all to stay the same and sane.