I sat at the end
Of a wooden park bench
On paint both crackled and worn

Coats over coats
Of different colors
Like rings on a tree

Filling in initials
Carved with a knife
By a young lover

​Half in the sun
Half in the shade
I chose the sun.

Broken sunglasses
Sitting on my dresser
If I can find the part
Out there somewhere
I can fix them

Jeans too small
In a drawer in my dresser
If I can lose some weight
With diet and exercise
I can wear them

An unframed print
Waiting for a frame on my dresser
It was for a friend
That I don’t talk to anymore
But I could

​That dresser is full of “if”s
It’s got drawers and drawers
Of “should’ve”s and “could’ve”s
Things I need to do
And fix.

The snow didn’t melt at all today
I found it just like I left it
When I came out from work
In the dark of December

I shuddered in my jacket
Jingled my key and unlocked my car
With a button and a chirp
Then opened my door
​
The thin orange strip lay along
The horizon and darkened
With each passing second
I started my car and turned up the heat.

I’d cut through the pasture
On my way to the pool
Every day in my summers
Of youth

Dirt path worn firm
That was slick after rain
In grass as high as
my belly

​It shaved blocks off my trip
To the pool and back home
Time that I needed
To swim.

I lost the sun so
I asked the trees
In darkness they mourned
And threw their leaves
Down to the cold
Hard ground

​I asked the wind
It shushed me loudly

I asked the house
That slept alone
It sat there with eyes closed
​
I asked the lake
The ripples laughed
At my request
And sparkled specks
From sky above.

Christmas Eve 1974-1983
Embers glowing lower
A random crackle or pop
From deep inside the last log
Black and crumbling
In the cooling bricks
This Christmas Eve

Distinct candle smoke aroma
Hangs in the air with the smells
Of Dad’s pipe,
Apple cider,
Oyster stew
And lefse.

Piles of wrapping paper
Boxes, bags and bows
Heaped up in a jealous mound
Away from the toys,
Ties, sweaters and socks
Stacked neatly

Our stockings hang waiting
And few gifts left under the tree
For Santa will come while we sleep
In sleeping bags by the tree
Lit in the corner and covered
With ornaments - mostly handmade
​
This is the Christmas
I’ll always remember
A hodgepodge of them all
Mashed into one memory
Where the best times all live
With the loved ones so dear.

Dip, scoop,
Lift, turn, throw

Repeat
Repeat
Repeat
Repeat
​
Clear the white
Bright and hard packed snow

Expose the sidewalk
Waiting for summer
To be covered by green clippings
And darkened by the sprinkler
Cooling on a hot day
​
But now uncovered
By a twisted and sore back.

Breath in the sky
The stars
The moon

Light your darkness
With a smile
From the glee

Of distant thunder
And flashes low and thin
On the prairie horizon

Where dark meet dark
And the night air’s
Electric pulse
Sends an invitation
​
To find a place
Of dry warm solitude
Before the Gods
Shake the earth with rain.