Won't you?
Life no longer
Violet crumble
In my hands
If only
Sweet honeycomb
Chocolate mess
Ask me over
After work
Take the ticket
To the show
Now state walls
Not a giant mask
Anymore
Storm blows over
World conjures another
Ask me again
For someone to hold
Fake tears fall
From tiny bottle
Until real ones come
May the goodwoman
Blaze the trail
To the honey box
Knock gently twice
Tell the bees
The whisperer is gone
May they carry on
We all become stories
~ Margaret Attwood
Urgently wish
To kiss you
Instead, waited years
Climbed high mountains
To coincide with
Long-held promise
Of blooming again
I barely remember the wall coming down
Though tender renowned
Perestroika and glasnost
My Minsk pen pal
Whom I nearly visited
If not for that iron curtain
A downed air plane
VHS player was their request
For duty free on the plane
From a 10 year old
Broken wall boundaries
Parenting –
Though missed a trip
To America
With my swim club
Too young, they guffawed
Knotts Berry Farm
Apparently more dangerous than
Newly formed USSR.
Beauty is beheld
On breezy shores
Stranger smiles
Open doors
Strings course
Over fragile skin
Time is worn
Borne within
Wholly unbroken
The line between the time
You told me all your stories
To now
I write them out
Though not mine to tell
Story keeper, holding closely
Treasuring artwork on cigarette packets
In New Orleans
Erecting tents on byways of Canada
Evading bears
A sense of place is important
Venturing out beyond all civilisation
Loved ones' names in acknowledgements
On all the field papers
I fade and fall rather than reach for such stardom
The earth and all its impact
Wakes me from timestamped memories
With beers in gaudy bars
Canadian moosehead overlooking
That look, watching waiting, startled -
Only to flee into the wilderness again
Blustery spring
Rattles my windows
Within
Batten down the lids
Promises of snow drift
Footprints on photos
Places I never go
Lift my mood somewhat
All I know
Is to write my heart out
Send wishes on the wind
That is all I can do
When the wind
Whips through me
Count the stars of heaven 