"sukkah" - 5/28/15

this is the good part
the part when church bells ring
and synogogue windows glow
when you suddenly take my hand
and a tsunami of relief ravages my soul

I haven't prayed for much
in my lifetime assuming I should wait
for the moment when prayer would
prove itself vital and of course because
I'm at my core a reluctant agnostic heaven
knows I have harnessed the powers

of music and art to deflect from loneliness
and feelings of isolation that lured me away
from family and friends alienated as I've been
by most of what I've experienced in the name
of love oh lover I will gladly gracefully cast my

gossamer scarves from balconies high
just to watch them fall like feathers skillfully
floating toward your arms from the sky look up
there are petals where there was rain, shelter

from fireflies where once was snow and shame

"Mother's Day" - 5/10/15

one irrefutable phenomenon
we all have in common
whatever differences
or conflicts withstanding
is everyone has a mother

my own mother lost her mother
before I could ever ask her
the myriad questions
I continue to pose to the universe
about why she loves how she does

and why, on darker days,
she hurts in ways the rest of us
only pretend to understand
but because she's always
been such a constant source

of virtually everything I can
imagine from self-belief
to food on the table
to colors I've embraced
to countries I've explored

I have been blessed beyond
any reasonable expectation
and lucky more often than
anyone deserves what's worse
has always been made better

what's lost has been forgiven
what I've destroyed along the way
with recklessness or lack of attention
has been repaired with time
unburdened with three simple words

so often tattooed
from her lips to my ears
whatever differences
or conflicts withstanding
my mother loves me more

than anyone else ever has
and she tells me every time we speak
what matters to her most
the way we both can make an impact

and then of course, we laugh