Shifty

A quick shift of the mind
can put you in a better place,
while a quick shift of the body, 
after
a certain age,
could put you in traction.

So, I wish you 
a positive mental shift,
and a gradual, 
physical one, my friends.

This is for dVerse Poets’ Pub where Mish asked us to write a quadrille (44 words) and include some form of the word “shift”.

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The Sunday Muse – #251

Some days I can’t get the peanut butter

outta my ears.

Some days my mouth feels

full of marbles,

each word bumping up against the others,

all in a rush to get out.

Some days are a forest of words

surrounding me

where I wander, lost.

Some days are a silent desert that

I trudge through alone.

Some days the hardest work

isn’t baling hay, or digging ditches, or chopping wood;

 it’s getting meaning

from one solitary soul

to another

This image, and some other cool writing prompts, are found at The Sunday Muse.  Check it out.

*Note: Photo Manipulation by Photographer Dariusz Klimczak

I Wish

I do not wish to be Queen 
of the Universe
directing everything
and everyone
I do not even wish to be a yenta
with the happiness
of a village
in my hands

But I see a good man, alone
and a woman 
disappointed, betrayed
again and again
and my heart aches 
for these two

And I think 
it would be so easy,
such a natural thing,
and I would like to have
a chessboard or
Parcheesi board and simply
arrange the game pieces
so that 
everyone lives
happily ever after.


Note: The Yiddish word for matchmaker is actually "shadchan", while "yenta" is an old, busybody.  I used the word, "yenta" though, because I thought since Fiddler on the Roof it was more familiarly aligned with matchmaking.






Wondering

As the sun sinks
below the horizon
its colors bleeding into black

I sit on the fence,
part of me reaching forward
part of me pulling back

Just a stone’s throw 
from salivation
wondering 
if I want 
to be saved
or spent 

#44

Does your heart

break open

on a regular

basis?

Do you ever

find yourself

weeping

in the back

aisle

of a bookshop?

Do you ever

see

a person

on the street

and have

to look away

because you are

overcome

with

sadness?

Me too

Friday 55 – Super Secret

I keep my cool incognito
sort of like Clark Kent.

No one knows that I 
am the ultimate badass.

I hide it under layers of flannel
and grey hair. 

I hide it very well
but take no chances 

so occasionally I throw in 
a klutzy move or
an awkward encounter.

No one suspects a thing.	

The Sunday Muse – 156

Image from the movie “Northfork”
The voices in my head
all agree it’s 
time.

They whisper
then laugh at me
and my feeble attempts
to navigate through another day
another labyrinthian set of interactions

with my fellow humans.
Why is it so difficult?
How can I find the courage
yet again
to face each one,
when every 

meeting, 
every conversation,
is a pit with sharpened sticks
waiting for me to fall
and impale myself upon them?

Others don’t even notice 
the red, neon signs
“DANGER”
that begin blinking above their heads
as soon as I walk up to them. 

So once again, 
I prepare to go out,
prepare to do battel with 
everyone who is going about their business
so casually,
so comfortably.

For them it’s easy-peasy.
They have no idea 
just how harrowing it is,
how exhausting it is,
every damn day.



This is written for http://thesundaymuse.blogspot.com/2021/04/sunday-muse-156.html.  

Spring

Early April, and warm enough

to keep the windows open overnight

and so we wake to birdsong,

which is more of a repeated chirrup

than a song.

It reminds me of a dripping faucet

if the droplets sounded sharp.

Still, the air feels mild

and smells of rain.

This is spring – gentle, yet sharp.

Sunday Morning Thoughts

Take a walk around the lake
and think about things


Not your heart rate
or your calories burned
but the things you push out

of your mind
all the rest of the time

Like where have all
the years gone

how much time have you
exchanged for cash

and when will you begin
to live?