Welcome

testing the waters-
I dip my toe in to check
if I’ll let you in

soft light-
my door
slightly ajar

Manifest Destiny

wide open prairies
the promise of a new life
in every acre

covered wagons-
homesteads built
on sacred land

Cats

two dark silhouettes
framed in the open window
sitting side by side

tails twitching-
warm dreams
in the sunlight

Walls

the knife in my back
carved the windows in the walls
I’d built for myself

creeping ivy-
ruins of stone
foundations

Farming

verdant fields of grass
freshly cut into windrows
drying in the sun

migrant bees-
tend the
grape arbor

Morning

awake in my bed-
dawn eases through my window
gilding all I see

a web of stars-
blackbird songs
invades my dreams

Return

the lobsterman’s wife
watching the lighthouse at the
dying of the day

silent passage-
darkening water
laps the shore

Memories

underneath my bed
photos of my childhood
slowly fading lies

an old cigar box-
sacred relics
of my youth

Serenity

pockets of moonlight
across the rippled surface
of a mountain lake

midnight water-
still dragonflies
dimple the surface

Kiss

home with my regrets
I should have asked for a kiss
when I had the chance

your upturned lips-
moths flutter
in the porch light