Poem A Day Challenge – Day 24

I’ll Be Trimming the Tree

Not for me Black Friday
Commercial hordes saving a buck
I’m staying home that day
You’ll find me listening to Christmas music
And trimming the tree
The one I purchased on Christmas Eve
Three years ago
Because the thought of doing without Christmas
Hurt too damn much
Let the masses trample the aisles
Let them spend their credit and dimes
I’ll stay home and drink hot chocolate
Watch Scrooged on TV
Eat popcorn sprinkled with lime
Retailers will just have to wait
I’ll be home trimming my tree

Poem A Day Challenge – Day 23

Alone Tonight

Alone on a Sunday night
A dog at my feet
Two kitties dream of mice
As I watch flickers on the screen
I contemplate Christmas
Smell the roast cooking in the kitchen
Think of summer
I conjure up together words
Like I’m sorry
That won’t happen again
I love you
I’ll be here when you get home
But there was no argument
Nothing but work that keeps you away
I know you will be home soon
Still, it feels like decades ago
When I was lonely on a Sunday night
And I didn’t know you yet
And I couldn’t whisper any words at all
Except to my heart
Who hoped you would find me here
Alone on a Sunday night
Waiting for you

Poem A Day Challenge – Day 22

Please Release It, Let Us Go

Let it out slowly,
I said.
Make sure you push on the accelerator at the same time.
But Mom!
He said.
There’s a car right in front of me!
Won’t I hit it?
No, I said,
You’ll roll backwards for a bit.
We’re on a steep hill.
But Mom!
He said
There’s a car right behind me!
Won’t I hit it?
You could,
I said,
So you make sure you are accelerating.
But Mom!
He said,
I don’t want to do this!
You have to,
I said,
There’s no place for us to stop.
Now release that clutch slowly,
I said,
And go!

Poem A Day Challenge – Day 21

east

i thought it was a coyote
howling at the moon
that woke me

i thought it was the middle of the night
as dark enveloped me
like a blanket

i nestled into my dreams again
painting the same feathers
that i always paint

but what was a coyote
doing in my studio
calling me to prey?

it was her plaintive cry
the ‘where are you’ meow
of early morning

the clicking of nails on wood
his dogness in attendance
both begging me to rise

i felt the irritation
of deep sleep interrupted
but woke to greet the dark

i let the dog out
and the sky reproached me
dragon fire lighting up the east

i breathed it in
awakening a song inside

this is what I should be painting