Cling to ambiguity

Somehow, to save us all, 

We have to find a way to walk 

Between opposing certainties; 

To resist the urge to climb the fence 

To safety and security 

Where all is black and white, 

But cling to gray, to ambiguity, 

To possibility and hope.

Territoriality

It struck me as odd, 

To see the mature gulls 

Gathered on the right 

And the young ones 

Perched on the left; 

The young ones quiet, 

The older ones all huffy, 

 And protecting their space… 

It’s sad to think we humans seem 

Unable to outgrow this territoriality…

No more puddles

I want a leader 

Who doesn’t keep making it rain 

Just so we can see his reflection

 In the puddle, 

Making him loom twice as large…

These aged doors

These aged doors remind us 

Of a time when craftsmanship was valued, 

And people had — or took — the time 

To invest the ordinary with beauty, 

Not hurrying to get it done 

Or living by the modern rule: 

“You can have it fast, or cheap, or good: 

Pick any two,” when nowadays 

We’re lucky to get one…

Back to the source

Deep within our souls, 

There is a place that looks and feels like this: 

Dark, and cool; still, and very green; 

The place from which wisdom and comfort flow; 

The root of our compassion, 

The source of all creative thought, 

And that which feeds our hope and courage 

When things seem insurmountable. 

Go there now, and be restored, 

That we might live to fight another day.

When things ICE over

Astonishing, that when things look so dark, 

The Sun still rises in the morning, 

Bathing the world in colors so rich, 

One might think we’d never want for more— 

That is, of course, until they fade 

Again to gray, 

Extinguished by the cruelty of ICE.

In memory of Renee Nicole Good

The evidence is there, 

Right in front of us, of wrongdoing, 

And still there are those 

Who would defend it with lies. 

We watch in horror, wondering, 

What next offense will be revealed, 

And now it’s not just my poetry, 

But hers that’s been diverted 

By the ugliness of this administration.