"Home Again"

Sunlight streaming

through every window,

the bird feeder at the ready,

new grass coming up,

Soon.....Spring.

The Offering (c)

When I was in France,

a gentleman offered

me his arm

as I went down the stairs.

A strong arm --

To keep me from falling.

To keep me safe.

I cried, as I remembered that

kindness a year later.

Because where is this kindness

in Tarboro, North Carolina?

Another strong arm

is keeping me safe now.

Enfolds me,

and holds me close.

As we dance slowly around

the living room,

I exhale,

relaxed,

and peaceful.

Recalling this memory,

I go back to sleep,

and rest in the realization

that I am loved.

Voyeur V

She opened the back door

onto a soft summer night.

Twilight.

A "Monet moment."

Lingering,

she took in the crisp night air.

She stood on the top step,

looking at the hovering 

treetops.

A male voice shouted,

"Go back inside!"

But she stayed.

Voyeur IV (c)

She came home from the hospital

and collapsed in a chair

under the cedar tree.

Her stalker coughed and

cleared his throat

while she

leaned back in her chair

and closed her eyes,

trying to forget 

that he was there.

Voyeur III (c)

Franklin

cut her grass that day

while the neighbor

stared,

walking by her yard

as if to inspect

the finished work.

Voyeur II (c)

Only his white sneakers

were visable from beneath her fence,

His body turned in her direction,

he is like an apparition,

appearing only to annoy

the beauty of the landscape.

His voice broke the solitude of

a quiet morning

as he told her,

"Your fence is broke..."     

Voyeur I (c)

Her lounge chair was parked

at the side of her house,

where she could catch the full

benefit of the sun's rays.

Her favorite halter top,

and a glass of ice tea

completed the scene

 for relaxing in the sun,

on a hot summer day.

Suddenly her concentration

was broken,

there was a presence.

Her neighbor was standing there,

just to chat, she assumed,

"Go away",

She screamed silently.  

Later, she went for a walk.

He appeared again, blocking her path.

She swung around,

"Don't do that!"

She shouted,

      Feeling violated.      

Neighbors (c)

They gossip mostly,

that old grey pair,

coming out to talk,

or just to stare.

Do they travel,

beyond, the confines of this place?

  

Do they dance, or love,

Do they know of grace?

Francis, Mary,

Mary, Francis,

the same, the same...

with them, things will remain 

the same...

  

Frozen Danube (c)

Wouldn't it have been better to refuse

to look askance, or perhaps peruse,

to allow me a little while to think

allow my ice to clink

in my glass a bit longer.

Let all the visions and revisions 

pass me by,

let me remember, let me cry

over the currents of our passion

that faded into sweet resignation,

that faded on my icy dream, like a fossil

that never quite

surfaced into

its own reality.

The Blue Danube repeats itself--

a frozen vision.