And what of me
as whales sing to each other
in the deep, secret sea?
Family Portrait 1942
There she stands, Grandma Clara, with her brood.
She does not face the camera
but turns her gaze toward the hills.
Familial Breakfast
She stabbed her nana’s plate for potatoes,
ate them smiling—
no words, no looks.
HaiKin
One talks like he knows
things that you know he doesn’t
but he’s family…
“The Champs” (Topps Baseball Card #1, 1967 Series)
My Baltimore Oriole stars
Frank Robinson and Brooks Robinson,
same uniform, same family name.
For Bill
Brother—
Do you remember when we were two on the teeter totter
Lolly and Billy
Dogwoods in Spring
Wash wash the blood at your stitches.
All tissues and bandages,
”Your father is all finished.”
How I Came to Love a Giant
He appeared to be very tall, standing in a landscape with miniature
models of a village, farm animals and a castle.
Cento for Orphanhood
In the beginning there were no orphans. God created the sky and
Read moreA Wish
A memory leaps into my mind this morning from somewhere in the hazy past. I see my daughter–a year old–full of beans,
Read moreMy Silvery Brother, My Maple Tree
Thank you for the shade that cooled my home, saving energy.
Thank you for being home to birds and squirrels.
Thank you for the colorful Fall seasons, so leafy.
The Maple Room
That’s what a friend and I named you
as we sat under the dome of your
branches one mid-pandemic afternoon,
Manuelita La Mariposa
My friend suggested I name you
on your third visit to my yard.
Frailty
I fear frailty in myself and others
I watch and wait for signs
that show I’m following in my mother’s
North 7 Night Bus
Living rooms glow like beacons
as we pass through the dark outside,
the barest glimpses of lives, lives, lives.
the web
I found Charlotte in the cold grass
eight legs bent against the sky
the song of just one summer
Weaning
When farmers separate
calves from mothers
both bellow all nigh
Devil Fish
For centuries pregnant gray whales
came to Lagoon San Ignacio
to birth their young. They bonded
the affordances of being human
we borrowed your sunsets
of course we borrowed your oceans
we borrowed your clouds so sorry
My Almost Tibetan Daughter
An application completed in pen,
a link stronger than flesh and blood
connects us for decades-five times ten.