2013

Tangiers in Early Spring

Steam from the burnt coffees stings my eyes.
The cream churns and rolls inside her cup,
a little storm of microscopic proportions when
she stirs in her sugar and spills a bit
on the chipped white counter under
the Hot Corned Beef sign
vibrating above our heads. She pulls
the beaded string and suddenly there
is no more hot corned beef. People
will surely be disappointed by that.
The two Dylan tickets I placed in the wrapping
of the flowers just sit there.

Raggab

When I saw him every day
At his house on the Mediterranean,
I tugged on his six inch beard and he would
Laugh and teach me until the clock struck six.

He taught me how to multiply and divide numbers.
From him I learned about the different dialects
Of Arabic. And the six frontiers in which he fought.

I admired the creases near his
Aging eyes. The deep scars on his hand.
His six children envied me
Because he gave me far more attention.

Blank Sky

God has bright eyes
as wide and as focused as a kid’s.
Mom, who is wiser than me,
is kneeling in the other room, praying
while I watch TV like poison.
She gets up in her white robe
looks up to God, with her closed eyes
clean from her recent shower.
She whispers to him like a loony
whose sight comes from within.
It’s silent but calming.
It can never be proven
No, I’m not sure if he’s even up there.
He was when I was eight years old.
Now he is myth, vacuumed out of the air

I awake to the slow creak of the house, like a branch swaying in the breeze. If I close my eyes, it’s almost as if I’m on a ship, and the waves are caressing me to shore.

But I’m not on a ship, and I’m not floating away on holiday to pristine waters and sandy isles.

I hear the scrape of a chair across the kitchen floor.

There is something not right. The house is unsteady, uneasy. So am I.

Feet on Fire

“To the secret fort!” Nikki said
And we ran out from the shelter
Of the weeping willow.
Our feet hit the ground,
Hot and burning
But we were wild and
Invincible!
Through trees and bushes
There was a clearing small enough
For two 6 year olds and a table,
Where we planned our adventures.
We lived off ripened strawberries
Her grandpa grew and we learned to fly
Off swings, shoes first,
To the ground.
Every day ended
Reluctantly.
We found a caterpillar