gray morning
rain weighs down
my thoughts

brass bracelet with key

it hangs from her wrist
brushing out notes on the cabinets,
chairs, appliances. it hangs
against her skin
repeating the touches of cold fingertips
as she turns her hands this way and that
through the slow river of her day. she rises
to remember the song of
the man who polished her bones.

mother is alone now, waiting for the consolation,
balancing the accounts again and again.
she keeps a hope the deficit will be filled,
that the mysterious key will find a lock
warm enough to open the improbable door.
it is clear that when she passes such a device
the brass will warm, begin to dance
guide her surely without thought toward
some kind of rest.

no hard metal encircling my wrist,
no ring in my nose, on my toes
but as mother passes
her key begins to vibrate –
her wrist trembles, face falls.
she raises an arm slowly,
an arthritic finger making the exclamation
for her silent mouth. it points
at my middle, my cautious heart.
I feel my own lock begin to sing.

across the library

voices of children
a flock
rising, plunging

I feel so dirty.

I used the term 'team leader' in a cover letter.

cinquain for a fall morning

pink fog
fills the valley
last of the crickets sing
tongues of the softened sun lap
it all

why I love rural living

ran into a friend
at the gasoline store
she was on her way to town
the post office called
her chickens had arrived
the postmistress didn’t want them
hanging around too long

the morphic field or too much The L Word

(or has it just been a while)

woke up with the words
"slick whoopee juice"
being signed in front of me
with subtitles

after dutifully recording this
I turned on NPR just in time
to hear someone say
"Oh please, I'm all wet. I can't think right when I'm all wet."

Well, I do know how to do a little plumbing.

The ad for the job reads:
"Would prefer someone with breastfeeding experience."

"A pretty dramatic sunrise."

Said the man on the radio just minutes after I took this photograph.

on a self performed hair cut while suffering sleep deprivation

under such a blue
sky, won't know
for a few days
if
I have made
worse choices