Believe

 

I believe in a goddess

Impossible to describe

Clearly recognizable

Call her Laphrodite

Goddess of the belly laugh

 

She giggles with Kuan Yin

Over eggs Benedict and strong coffee

Rhumbas with Buddha

In her spare time

Breaks bread with Jesus

Who always brings the wine

 

A good listener

Pervasive as the sky

Wiser than the redwoods

Deep as the stars

 

See her in the cats’ eyes

Evening suns’ sweet surprise

The cosmic spiral of milk

In my morning coffee

 

She dreams of 

Ancient Women

Who did not 

Apologize

 

She is Multi-gendered, 

Depends on the day of the week

Or the Moon

It’s just a phase

 

Lots of arms

Definitely many faces

Often found

In the most unusual of places

 

Starting with my face

Reflected in the mirror

Messy hair and all

(Excerpt from Laphrodite's Guide to Mindful Menopause or the Adventures of a Baby Crone)

Vibrissae

 

Vibrissae
A Collection of Cats, Facts, and Whiskers

Inspired by the Santa Cruz Museum of Art And History's exhibit on local collectors, this book was a collaboration between a mother and daughter. Kayla Rose, a crazy cat lady at heart, has collected over a hundred cat whiskers that she found around the house over two decades from a medley of family pets. She wrote the poem to honor all the past, present, and future cats who bring joy into their lives. 

5.0 out of 5 stars Witty and Perceptive.

Kayla and Amber Rose are wise in the ways of cats. No subtlety escapes their eyes. Full of humor and insight, this small book reveals much in its short pages. Well worth the time.

The Beautiful Unknown: Retreat Poems and Prose 2009 - 2020

 

The Beautiful Unknown: Retreat Poems and Prose 2009 - 2020

During this time, our Baby Crone discovers the joy of silence and solitude by taking sojourns along the California coast. These poems, prayers, meditations, and love spells were woven at various silent writer’s retreats, including Mission San Antonio, St. Columba’s Retreat in Point Reyes, and The New Calmodese Hermitage in Big Sur.

Changing Woman: Poems 2007 - 2016

 

Changing Woman: Poems 2007 - 2016

Kayla used to be a priestess of Aphrodite, but she was such a bitch - all those lessons in love, including jealousy, heartache, misery, and despair. Now she is the Priestess of Laphrodite, Goddess of the Belly laugh. Laughter is the best medicine, but as far as Kayla was concerned, it's also the best lube. Reflecting a time of questing and questioning for our Baby Crone, she changes careers, discovers online dating, and fuels her passion for blogging. 

Tendrils of Belief: Poems 1997 - 2006

 

Tendrils of Belief: Poems 1997 - 2006 

Picks up the adventures of our Baby Crone five years after Sappho’s Delights. No longer a maiden, she embraces motherhood, becomes a gay divorce, and moves from retail therapy to hypnotherapy. Spanning almost a decade, here is more scrumptious food for thought, nuggets to savor and relish. Inspired by Adrienne Rich’s, On Lies Secrets, and Silence, these tender tales continue a quest into a deeper knowing of self, family, and community. Prayers, meditations, affirmations, and some lamentations.

Vibrissae

 

Vibrissae
A Collection of Cats, Facts, and Whiskers

Inspired by the Santa Cruz Museum of Art And History's exhibit on local collectors, this book was a collaboration between a mother and daughter. Kayla Rose, a crazy cat lady at heart, has collected over a hundred cat whiskers that she found around the house over two decades from a medley of family pets. She wrote the poem to honor all the past, present, and future cats who bring joy into their lives. 

5.0 out of 5 stars Witty and Perceptive.

Kayla and Amber Rose are wise in the ways of cats. No subtlety escapes their eyes. Full of humor and insight, this small book reveals much in its short pages. Well worth the time.

SLO Tattoo

Driving

How I love California

Valleys scarring

Golden hills

Arriving

Details and stencils

Inks, fine line, and filler

Last one is always the killer

Different pains

Burning, drilling, electric

Striated down through the belly

The hot knife that slices

Carving new vistas

Each scar is a story

Once scabbed, picked at, now

Healed, revealed, no longer raw

Simply incorporated 

Symbols, Sabien, or otherwise

Rite the tattoo experience

Pull the Sun, Three of cups

Understand

Willow leaves, sweet relief

Runic analgesic 

Cool summer breeze

Viola and Forget-Me-Not

Wheel of fortune

Wheel of fame

Let's remember

Lilith again

HRT

 

show me yes

show me no

show me

I don't know

third time

patch slips

not going to

fix this

rub bellies

lube jellies

warm up

cool down

tired of weeping

not sleeping

nightmares

Changing Woman

 

Changing Woman: Poems 2007 - 2016

Kayla used to be a priestess of Aphrodite, but she was such a bitch - all those lessons in love, including jealousy, heartache, misery, and despair. Now she is the Priestess of Laphrodite, Goddess of the Belly laugh. Laughter is the best medicine, but as far as Kayla was concerned, it's also the best lube. Reflecting a time of questing and questioning for our Baby Crone, she changes careers, discovers online dating, and fuels her passion for blogging. 

Picnic Table

Heat of your palm

Love is eternal

Form shifts

Tendrils of Belief

 

Tendrils of Belief: Poems 1997 - 2006 

Picks up the adventures of our Baby Crone five years after Sappho’s Delights. No longer a maiden, she embraces motherhood, becomes a gay divorce, and moves from retail therapy to hypnotherapy. Spanning almost a decade, here is more scrumptious food for thought, nuggets to savor and relish. Inspired by Adrienne Rich’s, On Lies Secrets, and Silence, these tender tales continue a quest into a deeper knowing of self, family, and community. Prayers, meditations, affirmations, and some lamentations.

Super Blood Wolf

Full moon, lunar eclipse

Sun on my descendant, moon on my rising

What does it mean

To have the full blaze of the sun

Ye to be eaten

By earth's shadow

Spit up, vomited,

Regurgitated on the other side

Either way

I howl

I show

I'm different

Sun a shield at my back

Protecting my tender entrails

Soft belly

The moon a mirror

Facing outwards

While I murmur the stories

All see their own reflection

If the words are sung right

And you ask the right questions

I am in the Earth's shadow

Eating a blood orange

No longer in the limelight

Prenumberal rebirth

A small voice whispers

Take pride, put yourself out there

Embrace being different

How else can

We experience sameness

Astrology is not prophetic

More like

Poetic

Pandemic Blues Review

 

5.0 out of 5 stars

 I could barely put this book down!

Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2023

I was immediately drawn in to Kayla’s words and experiences. This book showed me I wasn’t alone in my pandemic blues, and Kayla was able to put words to many of the same thoughts and feeling I had. A great read, with engaging photos. Highly recommend!

Kate

Day of the Dead

Tuesday

It was 112 degrees

As we sped through the valley

Calculating every minute

Before visiting hours were over

Intern

It took me a few times

To curl my tongue

Around your name

Encrypt

My minds script

Saying I meditate

Is like

Saying I exercise

Begs questions

What form

How often

What does it bring

I don't usually

Blurt out my story

As I sort

Plastic macro

Charismatic fauna

Into plastic bins

But when I saw your

Pearlescent fingernail polish

I knew I was safe

Clarifiers

 

What do I need

I don't know

It will come to me

Just like the crows

They act as if 

There's something 

I need as I compost

Camelias

Pulling the sour yellow

Oxalis bursting

Next year's deep 

Brown seed 

Pods

Lemon verbena

Always exuberant, sassy

I hear my mom's voice

Only retired people 

Spend their time 

Pruning the 

Geraniums 

Tiny daddy-long-legs on 

My knee, are you

Papa “Leg”-ba

Dad joke

He whispers

Don't give away the farm

 Go slow

Little turtle

Go slower

Welcome the Tower

Clean slate

See the

Stars