The Wasting Away

Oh my dearest love,
life melting off your thin bones,
choked out by disease.

I clutch memories,
which slip away so easy,
my humanity.

The day at the zoo,
when the giraffe licked your face,
and the monkeys laughed,

or the carrousel,
on the backward elephant,
kissing away tears.

Your birthday party,
we ate your favorite cake,
but the dog stole most.

The swing-set is still,
stirred only by the north wind,
which brings omen chill.

Butterfly landed
on your nose with wings flapping
but it made you sneeze.

Riding on the train,
when your nose began to bleed,
I was in denial.

I saw you running
through Grandpa’s fresh spring clover,
but those times are gone.

The doctors pump drugs,
which are more poison than balm,
yet you waste away.

I remember then
my spoken promise to you.
Thus, I do not cry.

Mumsi and Me

Steeped in the butterwort
Soaked in the tea
Mumsi is an Herbalist
And so will be me

Tinctures in the bottles
Tubers on the shelf
Mumsi makes our village hale
And so I will me self

Sulfur in the boxes
Copper in the tin
Mumsi made the chieftain well
And so his son I’ll win

Lion in the parlor
Cubs upon me bed
Mumsi made me run away
And now I fear she’s dead

Summer and Someday

Windswept fields of wheat
….throwing ripples about my waist.
A soda pop clenched in my grip
…..with a straw to savor the taste.
Sally goes whoosh on the swing
…..trying to conquer the sky.
Patches is eating her shoe.
…..If she knew, I know she would cry.
Billy is making a fort
…..out of parts from a beat up old car.
While Grandpa reads out on the porch,
…..smoking his nasty cigar.
Daddy is inside the barn,
…..fixing Dolly who’s broken her face.
Mommy is up in the sky
…..with Granny in a much nicer place.
She made me this nice cotton dress
…..and also my bonnet in blue.
Someday I’ll see her in heaven
…..where troubles and trials are few.