Adrift

This is a message,
a reminder to balance
when you feel adrift.
from your body
that you’ll be steady,
that you will find calm,
that you will be neutral 
once again with time
and clarity brings
peace only steadiness
will provide, stay strong
through these challenging days
where reality spins faster
than your brain can comprehend.
You acknowledge the distance
between your fingers on the keyboard
and your mind adrift from the present,
breathe in and find camaraderie 
in what is happening now.

Loops

NYC 8-2018
I call them loops.
They loop around my brain
causing me to question.
When things are bad
I push through, when things
are good, I delusionally think
they can always be this way,
that my emotions aren’t severely
impacted if I know this level
of calm. It’s a lie I fall myself,
every single time and without fail,
I am reminded of the power my body
possesses, how things shift rapidly,
how I learn the extremes between
calm days and heavy haze inside my brain.

Growing Up

Growing up is learning how to
connect the mind to the body.
These strange days are filled with
delicate daydreams and mind games.
I follow the moon but find the sun,
listen to the waves constantly telling me
to love myself for who I am and how I see,
how I am not trying to be someone I’m not,
only someone I can look back on and
be proud of the self-awareness
I gained along the way.

Something So Lovely

June 2017
You loved your garden.
You were always so proud
of the flowers that bloomed.
So much so you would pick one
to show me then put it in
a small vase on the kitchen table
then remark for days
how beautiful your flower was
and how extraordinary it was
that something so lovely
could grow from the ground
because of your love and care.
You were so patient with them,
then so happy when they’d bloom.
You called me over while kneeling
on the hill to marvel at the
colors or growth of a plant
that wasn’t doing so well
the day before. You asked me
to help you stand. I don’t move
around like I used to, you said.
I laughed, I’m impressed 
you’re able to move around 
like this at 85.
Every time I photograph
a flower, I think of you.
Spring Flowers 2025

Tiny Dancer

Lives interconnect 
with a single song,
a classic one
brings back memories 
good and bad
when moments 
occurred that were out 
of their control
where destiny calls 
could not be ignored
rolling down California roads 
watching the sun fall below the sea
a tune comes blasting through space 
a reminder of what was,
what is, what is no longer here
one person’s negativity 
is another person’s positivity
how you feel when one wronged you
let it be known as you watch 
balloons fly into the night sky
dance as though 
this is your last night 
find happiness in the dark
dance like a ballerina 
making trails in the sand.

Poem – 2019. Photo – San Diego, CA. Summer 2021.

Carwash

Turkeys fly into the trees,
wobbling on the branches
as they settle into the night.
The nor’easter winds
keep me up — sounds of childhood
going through the carwash
rush through my mind
as I hear water being slammed
at the windows, except nothing
is being cleaned.
A never-ending carwash
continues throughout
the night, getting louder
just as I almost
drift into sleep.

anchor

Writing is my anchor
in the sand.
What keeps me afloat
when the ocean of my mind
become choppy.
What tethers me
to the planet
when I'm floating
up in space.
The grounding space,
the safe place.
Giving me clarity 
in these trying times.
Through the lines,
I write with messy
scribbles. I return
home to me,
again,
and again,
and again.
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