In the Middle

I don’t care for blank slates.

Why start anew when I’ve already begun?

New beginnings feel naked and cold

And disembodied somehow,

But life in the middle of the checklist,

Below the done but before the do –

It feels Goldilocks right –

Warmed by the blaze of possibility

But cooled by sober experience –

It’s spring:

Opportunity sprung up from decaying failure,

The dandelion that grows on the dung pile.

Assembly Required

Ask me later,

When I’ve had sufficient time

To unpack my words,

Spread them onto the table,

Scan,

Sort,

Marry tongue with groove,

And present you with a lie

Better assembled than the truth.   

Claw Machine Doll

I won’t hide today,

Behind characters contrived to say

The words that perch

Impertinently on my tongue

With brazen threat

But dearth of deed.

I will verbalize,

Actualize,
Embody what I divine

When my fingers

Trace the cracks in my youth:

That it isn’t too late

To keep the moon awake all night,

To stop living like a claw machine doll,

Painted emotions and plastic love

Awarded to a lucky winner.