Driving to the memorial

Driving to the memorial

Street sign says Special 

Event Prepare to Stop, Too

Late, put on heart brake

Rosemary

 

Remembrance

Thank you for

Calling

Reminding me

Pistol Fingers

Graphology

My handwriting is
Cryptic, secret, sloppy, just
Like my tender heart

Lost Loves

My best friend

Lilly Billy little bit Silly

Sue who became Stu

Ice skating

Roller skating

That one black and copper velvet scarf

Mom’s platinum wedding band

My wooden file cabinet sold to make room for your furniture

The Canon camera found in San Francisco

Dad’s broken travel alarm clock  in the dark green leather case

Stained glass art supplies 

Cheesecake

Apology

I'm sorry for being so tired.

Sorry for being uninspired. 

Sorry to not be motivated, 

I simply feel inundated.

 You have to see, please understand,

This is completely out of my hands,

Not enough time. Not enough rhyme,

Sometimes I just don't feel fine.

And what do I do with all of this writing?

Post it online, cause more fighting?

Will I be accepted? Be heard, my fear,

 Am I dissed for being pagan or too queer?

 There's too many dishes, too much mess,

All of this just adds to my stress.

So no more excuses. I know my place,

 I take a deep breath. I wash my face,

 Set my intentions, what I've been hoping,

 And I crack my journal wide open...

Vinyl Love

Vinyl Love

Is it static cling

Or a more moist thing

Decals, transfers, stickers

California lickers

Cord Cutting

Go to the basement and find the

Box marked Material World, pull out

Seven cords, one for each

Chakra. Create safe space

Remember to breathe

Invite in

Release.

Twist, braid, infuse, ruminate, marinate, invoke, brine

Tying the knot, untying the bindings

Sometimes more like a snarl

Start at the crown

Begin to cut

Back to

Source.

A computer cable for the seventh. No

More meetings of the mind. Wire

Cutters slice clean through. Delete

Text threads, social media

Remove the ring

Boar’s nose

Bully.

Fine silver chain for the sixth. Now

Each link snipped with fingernail clippers

Never saw eye to eye

Mint floss for taking 

The Fifth. Let’s 

Keep it 

Clean.

Easily move to the fourth. Gossamer filament

Single singed horsetail strand burnt between

Stubborn candles, broken violins, heart

Strings cauterized. Now the 

Third, Solar plexus

Place of 

Power.

You have none over me. Use the 

Sharpest knife. Mince the leather, not 

Your words. Second chakra, belly 

No severed umbilical cord

More underwater cable

Could take 

Chainsaw.

First chakra, red ribbon, satin from baby

Blanket, silky soft, single thread simply

Dissolve in light. Notice the

Instrument may be blunt

To get all

The way 

Through.

Threesomes

 

A good laugh, a good 

Cry, handkerchief

Chance to say goodbye

Me you and Jenny

Rubbing soft triangle ears

Slip away through veils

I and my muse, Death

Crafting the epitaphs of

Who will be the next

Memorial

Cloying, pungent

Wilted Easter lilies

Metallic, bitter

Day old microwave coffee, sour

Slimy mushroom caps, spores

Unforgettable 

Sung acapella

Selenite heart

Bird's eye maple urn

A braid of horsehair 

Tiny sweet angel

Stain glass reflections

Bathe

Generations of

Salted tears

Go Slow

Go slow, go slow

Get better at saying no

Say yes to less

Forget the mess

No need for multi tasking

Simply focus that's all I'm asking

Let the coffee do it's drip

Before savoring that very first sip

The only ones who want you to be fast

Is of course the starving cats

So go slow,

So slow

Remember

You've got

Nowhere to go

Musings

I don't want to say that Death is my muse.

Just a hitchhiker
along for the ride
swap a story or two
part ways

I picked her up
on the way to San Diego
Last September
Now we journey
Back to Bonners Ferry

Backgammon
Ripping paper
Morgue

Somewhere on her GPS is
East Pueblo Street
Via Crostini
Walk Circle

I’d like her to be dropped off
For at least a little while,
Give room for a new passenger

Maybe Hope
Needs a ride
Home

Love Each Other

 

Love Each Other

I want us to love "arch" other

As you would say

One day at a time

And string them together

Like the  precious things they are

Instead of trying too hard

Or expecting too much

Please don't always expect me

To always be good and kind

There will be times when

I will be hard to understand 

But it's only because if

It's that time of the month

Or one of my moods

Not that I loved you less

Please remember that

I loved you always

Cosmic Giggles

 

Cosmic Giggles

Chuckling at the traffic light

Engagement ring in the sunlight

Catches it just so

I'm in my own private disco

     Opening my eyes

      To the morning surprise

     Throat throbbing with delight

      Hummingbirds ruby red flight

Best part of when I owned a cafe

Was spinning that mirror ball every day

Prisms scattered across the ceiling 

Espresso-ing a glittery feeling

     And by the way,

      Did you know

     Broken crystals 

      Cast the most rainbows

So put your violet fairy wings

Hover, sip and sway

And when the light is right

Just slip away

Chime

 

If I had known back then - Ada Limon

The bell rings three times. Notice

How long until the last note 

Declines

Would I have got that tattoo

Or the other

Bruises, stretch marks

Still have been a mom

Or just a housemate, Tia, aunt

Friend from long ago

Felt this close to you

Dying among your books

A few of mine

I would have said yes sooner,

As in, get it over with

Yank off the Band-Aid

Take off the blindfold

Disillusioned

Once

The bell rings

Two times

Follow the chime

Follow the 

Chime

The Word Whisperer

 The Word Whisperer

Once upon a time, in a jewel box by the sea,

Lived a Word Whisperer named Lisa, and her magnificent cat, Rumi.

She spent her days writing, teaching, reading and seeking,

Believer in the power of words: transforming, listening, and speaking.

Then one day, a bleak plague came across the land,

Trumpet tears, Covid fears, all went hand in hand.

She lost her direction, taste, even her sense of smell,

How to gather up those pieces, what story now to tell.

It was a time of stupor, a time of feeling of stuck,

Bogged down in all of the rhetorical guck,

But wait, her daughter Colette was pregnant,

How to bless and gift the expectant?

Lisa thumped her chest, set off on a quest, Rumi at her side,

And she met these particular muses, on the by and by,

Invited to a quilting bee for the softest lullaby,

Woven from yet unspoken gossamer sighs.

Sitting for a spell, these spelling bees,

Notebooks on their laps, pen caps between their knees,

Doubled and further multiplied,

Zoom in, zoom out, perspectives diversified.

The Word Whisperer moved her hands, harvesting silk,

Invoking the muses, aware of her ilk,

Chanting under the big dipper, creating her circles,

Resources, Sorceresses, composting rose petals.

There at the threshold, slowly she began to build power,

Delicious minutes, savoring every hour,

Mindful of the moments, creating her altar.

Ensuring her words would never falter.

Lighting a match to inspire the stubborn candle,

Eagle feather to let go of what one can no longer handle,

Taking the time for name tags, a basket of release,

A ritual writing of kumquats, hope, and soft grief.

Lisa listened as her muses sang of a heart shaped stones,

Embroidered cat tails and daiquiri ice cream cones,

Collected cat whiskers and a lost earring or two,

A Peace Angel mended with heart, tears, and gorilla glue.

Five stones in clear reflecting bowls,

Helping the Word Whisperer to reach her goals,

Thanking each of her muses with a sigh,

Now she had the unmasked gold for her lullaby.

She had the threads, she knew what to do,

Just how to breathe and weave them through,

Though the years go by too fast, the winter night is too long,

She knew her magic is good, her magic is strong.

 Knocking her wrists together three times,

Hearing the last of the second chime,

Holding the lotus, fingers blossoming true,

Now go write your story, We have sung to you…

The Word Whisperer let her lullaby sail,

Rumi said, this is the end of my magnificent tail…

So bid adieu, thank you for the tears and laughter,

And they all wrote,

Happily Ever After.

The End

Kayla Garnet Rose, Crow Moon 2023