Icing

Lying together

naked and spooned
I imagine myself icing and you the cake
still warm from the oven, fragrant and sweet

I picture my hands like two spatulas
spreading, painting, caressing
until there is nothing left to cover
nothing left untouched

Lying together
naked and spooned
we are the dessert after a rich and satisfying meal

tasting, feasting
until we hunger no more

Four Steps

Four steps ahead and four steps behind

these are the boundaries of my life

looking forward just enough to know where I'm going

and looking back just enough to know where I am

Until It Is

 

It's not your face

until it is

nor is it the curve of your waist or the rise and fall of your breasts

until they are

it's not your voice

until you speak

your touch

until you place your hand in mine

It's not

and yet it will always be

time beyond time

Desire

Without warmth or comfort

without joy or the tiniest glimpse of redemption

I center myself to this painful state of longing

the hand of desire that grips the soul throughout a cold and endless night

Medjool

A place of shelter from wind and rain

a light to drive back the darkness

a coat for warmth

a bed for sleep

And the sweet kiss of the medjool

on willing lips and anxious tongue

for that I am grateful

for that I will know love and joy

The Reasons Why I Cut My Finger

 

Because I am careless and don't pay attention

I attempt too much with too little

because I push too hard

because I put myself in the wrong place at the wrong time

because of my past failures and the pain left unforgiven

because I am cavalier, indulgent, and thoughtless

because I fail to live up to my standards

because I get angry and pout

because I am vain and self-serving

because I don’t finish what I start and don’t start what I know I must

because I am lazy, secretive, sloppy, selfish, and enabling

because I don't say "No"

Or simply

just because

Firefly

Though I know not the way

the time nor day of arrival

though I know not what one must carry

nor what one is forced to leave behind

 

I know of a light

small and meek

I know of a modest blaze

that flickers at the edge of night

and glows at the cusp of dawn

No Longer

Laughing and loving intensely

asking for nothing that wasn't already mine

clinging to overwhelming sensations

and the moments that pass too quickly

Until my grip was broken

and I could hold on no longer

That's when the magic began

A Millions Shards of Glass

All the mothers and all their mothers
all the daughters and their daughters, too
a nation of pantsuits, skirts, dresses, and overalls
collars in every shade and hue
a nation of colors, cultures, and creeds
struggling while enduring
loving, dreaming
shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand

A million shards of glass

a million points of light
reshaped into the likeness of woman
stronger together from this day on