the three

A few moments each, each a trail of thought that led nowhere, but occupied my time while I waited to hand out appeasement - toys and hygiene products to women and children whose husbands, fathers, and sons are imprisoned, terrorists maybe:


III: Culture, Retrospect, Circumspect

That sheer of newness,
that grimy coat that blinds,
it covers all the horror
with papery faith in kin -

We were the same, once,
you and I,
til seasons drew away
and love lost all her battles,
and memory left her side.


II: Sounds

Crunching gravel -
river-washed rocks
poured, heaped into desert -
Riled, refuse to crush
or fill the sand,
Waving and slipping
under booted weight -

Defiant, to the end.


I: Silver

Silver threads and Silver laughs
and Silver is my day;
Silver moon a shining star -
Stardust caught in a cloud,
Someday soon the world will sigh,
and Cease her layered wanderings;
Someday when the when does come,
This woman's wondering will still - silent.






(Family Day, early 2008)