Free Verse Poetry and Haiku
When I drink ginger ale,
I think of my grandmother,
who always had ginger ale,
White Zinfandel and leftovers
in the fridge at her house --
the house with the
bamboo in the backyard
and the pool table in the basement,
the house with the fireplace
and long reach matches in the living room,
and the bedrooms that my father and uncles
grew up in upstairs.
When I drink ginger ale,
I remember her contagious cackle
and raise my glass to Grand.
like the allegiance of a faithful friend
like the familiar hand of a lover
like the loyalty of a family pet
As summer begins to
close her eyes in
exchange for fall's
awakening, I want
to remember these
days; what it feels
like to slip into
sandals, and hop into
the car without a
jacket and drive to
meet some friends
with Tennessee's green
hills in front of me and
the sun on my back.
Marriage is
telling each other
what to do with our sores.
Co-written by Rebecca Davenport
a cardinal and a bluebird
sitting on a white fence
suddenly feeling patriotic
My afternoon walk
was interrupted by
a vicious scene --
two black turkey vultures,
two agents of death,
two dark figures
hunched and hovering over
an innocent squirrel
in the middle of the road,
devouring every bit of life,
shredding every fiber of flesh,
mutilating every scrap of dignity,
annihilating every piece of providence,
poking and prying and picking and
pecking and plucking and probing
until the body was nothing but a hollow carcass,
just like my parents do to me.
a fine Sunday morning flapjack breakfast
including one, petite pancake
for the pup
from having butterflies
to sharing houseflies
to watching fireflies in our twilight
Note: I wrote this on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2013 -- a triply historic holiday.
On MLK Day,
inauguration day,
on the day
that a gay
Cuban-American poet
read a poem
to America,
I am moved
to tears
in the sunlight
of my study,
thankful
for the sunshine,
my books, and
the partner
our dog, cat and I
await, who will
join us after work
on this fine day.
Some things
silence the
professional speaker.
Some things
stump the
international intellectual.
Some things
paralyze the
confident wordsmith.
Some things...
ban on "bored" meetings:
espresso, shortbread cookies;
jazz records on low
Sometimes the best way
to love your family is
to steer clear of them.
listening to a song you wrote
while driving around in the town
where we met
You haven't been kissed properly
until you've been kissed by a dog
that just ate peanut butter.
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