Gutter

I normally wouldn’t stoop down to pick up anything less than a dollar bill if it were in the gutter.  If it were wet, I would pass it up. My days of picking up pennies for good luck were over. I had luck and I had pennies, dollars also.

This was just a nickel. I can’t tell you why it stopped me dead in my tracks when I saw it out of the corner of my eye. Perhaps I thought it was jewelry. I think it says what a very

Proposed to Myself

Spring was in the air
and made me feel
romantic, so
I proposed to myself.

Leslie’s Magazine

My mom had her own blog. Who knew? Did you people? Did I? I feel like I would have remembered this.

Leslie’s Magazine

 

My Living Will

Should I fall into a comatose state or a condition whereby I am awake and aware but cannot move my body to control the remote, I ask that the following conditions be met.

I will leave a list of my favorite TV shows and channels. Please set the remote for these shows.

This applies whether I am conscious or not.

Remember crying that you wanted to go home?

Remember crying that you wanted to go home?
You were young enough to believe that if you
wanted something hard enough, it would happen.

You were at school and the teacher was unkind
and no one had been unkind to you in this way
and you wanted to go back to where you were

Mexican Jumping Beans

I was recently given five real Mexican Jumping Beans straight from the Mexican Jumping Bean fields in Texas.  They came with a sheet detailing their history, their care and handling, and a game board, should I want to encourage their competitive side.

I haven’t had Mexican Jumping Beans as pets since my childhood, and I was newly enchanted by their indomitable spirit, despite the fact that they are held captive in a one-

We Who Sleep Alone

At some time late evening
wrestle out of our bras
and sleep in the shirts
we have been wearing.

We fall asleep reading

The Second Death of Lazarus

It was not his doing
this coming back from the dead
yet everyone treated him
as if he had a terrible disease,
something he brought back from that black place
the buzzing emptiness where he lay.
It was his sisters who begged the Christ

It Is Something Like a Love Story

After years of searching and dreaming,
This is not what I expected love to feel like—
a mixture of comfort and gratitude
smaller than I thought it would be
quieter.

Haircut Before the Class Reunion

It’s been 50 years, and I am getting fixed up.
I know I didn’t grow old beautifully
like those cheerleaders with the “bone structure”
but I am doing what I can to at least look like
I am no stranger to hygiene
or the niceties of a good haircut and a manicure.
(I do the hands myself; they are elegant.)