Chemo

a black bitter pill
taken with a glass of bile-
so hard to swallow

november morn-
the push is over
now I taste salt.

Glint

jewels in the darkness-
a scattering of diamonds
in the shattered glass

winter‘s eve-
moonlight dances
on the fallen snow

Pittsburgh

just another day
thoughts and prayers for the dead while
no one does a thing

a quiet morning-
evil flourishes
in the silence

Agitation

open before me
the pages of my journal
blank and foreboding

onshore winds-
sand and shells
in the roiling surf

War

documenting war-
pages inked with the spilled blood
of the innocent

shimmering heat –
blood pools
in the desert sand

Midnight

staring at the clock
trying to understand the
cruelty of time

aching for sleep-
minutes collect
in piles on the floor

Sand

the living desert-
waves carried across the sand
by wind on the dunes

tumbleweeds-
a mindless expanse
of lifeless sand

Eerie

I can’t sleep at all
visions of the restless dead
inhabit my dreams

moon shadows-
a raven robed
in cobwebs

Armor

no one’s allowed in-
there’s only room for me in
this suit of armor

swift water-
armored scales
dimple the surface

Neglect

sunday afternoon
on the line the week’s washing
left out in the rain

empty bottles-
even the baby
has stopped crying