a raspy kitten.

a ragged clock.

lukewarm mittens.

a shattered sock.

to thee I sing.

from thee I flee.

all but is nothing—

crooked harmony.

wielding a fierce

readiness

the child pushes on

  textured tiles, deep

  shag, patio concrete

her youthful knees

roughened

                toughened

acclimating to life

Bright lights

So far away

Cosmic pixies

come to play

Dusk beckons dawn

Sun leads to moon

Onyx sky overhead

Twilight cocoon

the whale in the spaceship

crouches like a mule

translucent as all get out —

GET. OUT! —

but soon he, she, it will

blossom like so many magnolias

come spring, orange & pink

a sprightly Ulysses on Mars

zipped tight, preening—

a vagabond warrior

in the cosmos

heat envelops

and wounds the world

skyscrapers scrape away

orange-blue clouds

iceberg tips revealing so little

                there isn’t much more to convey…

fires and flares,

omens from the sun

a shrinking planet

cries out No More!

It’s high noon in the not-so-OK corral.

Horses are getting weary, spooked.

Tumbleweeds and split rail fences

embroidery the western landscape.

I feel my heart tugging away

at the barb of wire coiled around

a scroll of Naugahyde peeking out

from a prairie schooner wagon

as the mule team chomps

at their bits, pawing at the red

Texas clay, keen on striking out,

Oregon-bound, eager for

a little Pacific redemption.