(What do you call five)

What do you call five
year olds with gentle green thumbs?
Tendergardeners.

(What do tomatoes)

What do tomatoes

and kindergartners have in

common? Cut and paste.

Logging Lab Time

I was just another
experiment
to you --

just another
vial of blood
to spin in your

laboratory machine.

You were only interested

in the raw data --

the results of your

scientific investigation.

You invested time into

our relationship

so that you could

observe and analyze

the case study

sleeping next to you.

But I was more than
anatomy, biology

and chemistry.

I was more than

eyes and hips and lips.

My heart beat with

real emotion and

sincere love for you.

I realized way too late

that you saw me

through the eyes
of a doctor,

not a lover.

I guess that's why

you were so

cold and calculating.

You saw me as mere

research --
another lab rat --

just another
opportunity

to log in some lab time.

The Post-Vacation Blues (Salvation by Strawberries)

Today, my cubicle
feels like a cage.
I want to be
five hundred and
thirty-seven miles
away, sitting in my
favorite coffee shop
with a caramel latte
in one hand and
a book in the other.
I want to be in
the home of my
alma mater with
the one I love,
chasing sunsets
and sailboats and
strawberry Sundays.

(sitting on the pot)

sitting on the pot
in a strange town -- suddenly
all the lights go out

Power Conservation

He's the kinda guy that
makes your skin crawl
right into the corner.
He's a short man,
good-looking,
but way too cocky.
After surviving
the creeps that
linger in the air
next to my booth
after he finishes
his lunchtime greeting,
I kinda feel sorry
for the guy.
He clearly has
Short Man syndrome --
he works way too
hard to be confident,
suffocating the
great guy that
lies beneath his
attempts at suave-a-tude.
I consider forgoing
my reading booth lunch routine
just to avoid one more
unsolicited stroll-by,
but decide to favor
my pity for the fool
rather than my revulsion.

(first firefly of)

first firefly of
the season -- almost as bright
as the light in your eyes