The Dance

Step here
Step there
Within and without
The pattern already prescribed

Turn here
Turn there
Around and about
The lines are so clearly described

While the music is playing
Your feet can't be straying
The dance steps cannot be denied

But take charge of the tune
And you'll dance on the moon
Your only blockade is your pride

Finding Blessings

Not that I have to clean so much
But that I have so much to clean

Not that I have to feed everyone yet again
But that I have four beautiful children
And no shortage of food

Not that I have to do even more laundry
But that we have plenty of clothing
A working washer and dryer
And gas and electric services

Not that I have so much to do
But that I'm able to do so much

Let me see the blessings in everything I do today
And let me, in turn, be a blessing to others.

Auden

Your words flow like
A citrine drizzle of
Sweetest honey
And like honey
I want to taste them
One

Drop

At a time

Forever

I will remember this moment
Forever
Sitting on the cement steps
Looking at "my" dog
Not really mine at all
Though we both seem to think so

The yellow pom-pom tree
(Ill-knowing the fate that will befall it
When the typhoon comes in two weeks)
Stands
A scenic backdrop
For my nostalgic bliss

I may be leaving soon
Never to return
For all I know
But this frozen moment
This precious
Crystalline droplet of time
I will remember
Forever

Beggarman

Ragged he was in his tattered grey
With a real hunchback
Rattling his cup
And crying out those ubiquitous words
"One dolla!"
"One dolla!"

I beseeched my mother
And she handed over the chunky
Silver coins
Two or three

His smile
Toothless yet brilliant
Delighted me and I pled for more until
My mother
Confronted twice over with beggars
Assented

When the cup had clanked seven
Or was it nine times?
I'm not sure who was happier
Myself
Or the beggarman

And now
I look back across the years
And shake my head.

There's one born every minute

Serendipity

Like butterflies in the desert
You
Surprised me

Moving quietly
Gradually
Into my obsessions
I never really stood a chance
Did I?

Healing

One tear drops
Enough
To wipe the ashes from my heart

The second falls
And the slate is clean once more

The third
Is simply
For the beauty of the thing

With the fourth
Comes enlightenment
My joy distilled