(Image Poem)
Baby Brother
He lit bottle rockets and I
caught fireflies
At the cabin, in the middle
of no where
He’d still prove his mind,
sharper than ever
my brother was always the
smartest person in my life.
And even there, in the
middle of no where
He’d read Russian classics
and study chess
Inventing ways to keep rain
out of our forest forts
I could see him see me
As he asked questions like
“How could you think of
that?”
As if I had a fact he didn’t
already
Our brains, running in
different directions
I never thought I could
offer him anything
And yet the mosquitoes at
night, eating my family alive
Gooey marshmallows sticking
to our faces
I could feel him watching
me
Like the spider monkey
exhibit at the zoo
And suddenly I knew
Despite my sad excuse for an
academic mind
He was learning something
(Performance Poem)
A Duet
We spend too much time doing
things
I think, that are most of
the time
not worth it.
We work and we eat
We breathe and we sleep
Planning our futures
and when those plans fail, we freak out
and when those plans fail, we freak out
And waste so much time
freaking out
We forget we’re going to
survive
The next day, all the same.
There are ways to remember
this, I think
to know you’re okay
to know you’re alive
and not totally controlled
by the world around you
To experience things
perhaps places, perhaps people
that make your heart stop.
Well isn’t that the point
anyway?
(Ekphrasic Poem)
Elephants
A bloody sunrise
Was the backdrop of a
fascinating landscape
Sandy plains shown like
shadows
In the distance
As an angel landed and began
calling to me
“Today” she said “today
it all happens”
The tears rolling down her
cheeks
And mine
I noticed the temple
Within the shadows of the
plains
And I heard chirping
At last, the beasts
They came on their stilts
Eyes full of fire
Their backs burdened with
nothing
But floating artifacts
And ivy plants
She ran to me
As the sky became day
(Ghazal Poem)
Daddy
Growing up a princess, he was there
My hand was always held, and he was there
My hand was always held, and he was there
The bubble gum and the shoes I
couldn’t tie
The countless crayons I broke and the knees that bled, and he was there
The countless crayons I broke and the knees that bled, and he was there
Eskimo kisses and prayers before
bed
The games we played and the books we read, and he was there
The games we played and the books we read, and he was there
Bad grades and boyfriends sooner
Running away and broken hearts, and he was there
Running away and broken hearts, and he was there
Jazz and ripped jeans
His blackbird grown up, and he was there
His blackbird grown up, and he was there
Messes made my whole life long
The things I’ve blamed on him, and he was there
The things I’ve blamed on him, and he was there
