When sleep is broken
By undisclosed memories
Haunting a tepid brain
To wakefulness, watchfulness
And the moon plays host
Somewhere other than my window
The stars dancing, shimmering
In another wide awake sky
The heart will ache for slumber’s
Protective cover, while
Summer’s sultry song leaves
Bare a body longing for
The promise in the
Movement from even
The slightest breeze
To cool this soul’s skin
Category Archives: Poetry
Smelly Belly
Clean your ears, and clean your nose
Scrub your elbows, then between your toes
Your dad will shout to use that soap
And mom will yell she just can’t cope
That smell is more than I can take
Clean that belly button for goodness sake
The Night He Said I Was Not the Love of His Life
I’m sad I didn’t mean more to you
I’m sad I ever thought I did
I’m sad you saw me as a game to be played
I’m sad I am not the wonderful girl you couldn’t live without
You were not respectful of my being
You will not be demonized, so you can get off responsibilities hook
You were perfectly capable of doing that yourself, but
You chose me as unworthy of meriting attention
I am lost in the sadness of having believed you were true
This isn’t about hating you or being jealous
That ego unchecked could not listen to its own incorrectness
The sharpness of the wrongness of you is unbearably distinct
The need to surround yourself with only the fantastic has left me
To scramble for crumbs that brought no relief to this stomach’s pit
You will be fine, You always are
I will move on and be fine too
I will get over thinking you are a complete waste of a soul
Soon my head not caring if you are alive or dead
Always my heart will miss the jagged piece of me you stole
Thirteen’s Reunion
The table flooded in picnic food
Unnecessary to choose wisely
At this meal unified in shared
Genetics, a history of salads,
Modernized now in feta, bulgar
Fusilli pasta, plates holding
Just desserts, tiny fingers
Delicately pudgified holding
Cookies, and rolls that drop
Onto the ground, hesitating
In worry if anyone saw, safety
All around hugging each child
These new cousins for the day
Where is the aunt keeping
Track of the minutes, the collective
Allowed to catapult back into the
Pool giggling, dunking under
The rope tempting the deep end
Hours together joyful, uncles
Playing cards, sisters sharing
Tidbits about people whose
Names familiar but without
Meaning to young ears, bring
Snorts of laughter all around the
Pool’s edge, sadness then having no
Place to rest its desperate head
Now, easy entertainment still
In a deck of cards, a swing
A water tap where bright balloons
Soon discarded for easily filled
Solo cups dumped onto the
Closest target in mischievous giggles
The pool exchanged grudgingly
For a ball field, the audience smaller
Bleachers instead of deck chairs
Pigtailed heads still intent on
Tiny bubbles blown whether from
Yellow, orange or blue bottles
Still a happy song memory of a Rose
Descendants of thirteen
Gathering to share laughs, love
Invisible heart strings revisited
The noticed absence for each
Missing member of this
Group where the finally to arrive
Was always greeted with an
Hooray at last to seal the deal
Those giants of our childhood
Imprinted on grateful hearts
That forever want one more view of
Chocolate chip cookies perfectly
Lined up in a baker’s dozen
Another Day’s Gift
Mediocrity unstoppably thus
Sliding through this life desperate for more
Anticipating discovery that
Has not, will not come
Someday’s promise has left without farewell
Its vacancy a silent earthquaking
Destabilizing a soul’s wish for more
Than comme si comme ca
Blinking good morning to another day
Thought’s purpose anchored in last night’s dream
Belief created in spirit’s whimsy
Gives hope’s effort life
Breakfast with Buse 