overboard

  

Every animal chooses the lesser of two evils to survive;
behold the girl who seems to have everything she wanted.

Take a moment of silence for her visions lost beneath waves—
visions that even sailors, mermaids, and fish could not recover.

For all of history has proved that no one can truly have it all.
The greats simply cast away illusions from the final manifest.

~ TrUaMa ThErApY ~

"Let’s unpack that."

As if it were a box, labeled and packed with care,

or a suitcase, neatly folded—

not like a trash bag,

where my family crammed

clothes, toys, and more,

for moving, vacation, storage,

or the dump—

never to be opened.

It’s all the same.

Let’s discard the whole bag—

before the thin plastic tears & everything spills out!

one-sided

"Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life."

"Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without."

—Buddha

She sits at the same table, shares the same bed,
but she is only half-heartedly here. She aches for
another who does not feel the same for her. Next to her,
another ache, a parallel ache, in her home, goes untended.

It is not the distance outside, but the emptiness within
that writes the lines of her story. Every second,
her mind journeys outside this home, or outside
this present moment, is a thief stealing the joy

from her, like friendly fire. The malnourished
hearth she didn't tend, so her husband must,
once again, kindle the fire to flame. But she can
— strike a match, stoke the embers, and fuel the blaze!

contortion

My husband, in 1971, a whole 16 years before I was born:

Plodding his feet through snow, had trenchfoot

already taken hold? Thin boots, wet feet.

In Vietnam, where he had been, or Indiana,

where he was again, marching homeward.

No one picked him up from the bus stop that day.

If I could have, I would have been there waiting for him.

My husband, in 2024, a whole 7 years into our marriage:

Gaping mouth through his snores, had dreams

already taken hold? Thin cover, armchair.

In Indiana, where we had lived, or Alabama,

where we live now, sleeping in our home.

Someone—I—made a big dinner, and he is now full.

I was there waiting for him when he awoke

Genghis Khan

let it be known

you were born

blood clot in hand.

dripping, between knuckles.

nothing baby about you -

not chubby,

not soft,

not crying.

just you, alone,

brutally holding tight.

with your brass knuckled fist aloft.

a flat armadillo

once round and rumbling through fields

it wasn't the last tire - my tire -

but the first that killed you;

it wasn't the last phone call

but first that started the demise.

how I, also armor-clad, didn't resist

but instead flattened, pancaked,

myself into his road grooves -

while he, also, pressed me into the street.

it was my shell that cracked first.

yet, at the beginning, I was thankful 

for him breaking down my walls; now

he is the one dead while I waddle on.

alpha beta IV

assume aborted acne, also assigned asshole at

birth, born boastful braggart but bearable

crispy crinkle cut cringe cake coming cool

dreamer's daze dire dimples, doomed dips

enough events! ease! exist! electronic elope! 

fate floating fancifully, faithful, fuming fair

gotta go get guns, gats, guts, gloomy goofs.

harsh husband, human humility hands home

imagine! i'm intense? impossibly immobile?

jokey jargon juicing justice joining judgement

kick-off kneeling kisses, keeping kind king

little lady, ladder-leaps last landfill laps latter

must my mother's morphing mass make mortem?

'nother noble nonsense nomad nipping naught need!

oh obey object! or obscurity oath offends oasis.

perfect pendulum persists, painting pretty pictures present:

quilled questionings; qualify quotes; quiver quench

rationalize rating raw, rugged, robust rust-rimmed rams

sadness safely sails sauce slow, straight self-sufficiency 

tactful table trembles turmoil tainted tea tax team

undo units universal, upswing uniform unrest

verb victim vilify village vessel's verdict

we will wait, wrenching wretched way

XXX

yesterday's yogurt yawns yacht yolky

zirconic zygote zithers zodiac zoloft.