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Poems

AugPoWriMo 14

If nothing else
so far
at least our child

is comfortable
saying
whatever comes to mind

while staring
in wonder
at the trees going by
Categories
Poems

AugPoWriMo 10

To think that these pictures
capture the same creature
sleeping in the other room

at a recent previously
appointed point in time
aging apparently at the same rate

as these tired maybe middle aged
faces growing younger all the time
a match for that slight inflection

the world not quite as it was
when you arrived even better
now we know how much improved

it will be having you in it
evidence our souls met your spirit
Categories
Poems

AugPoWriMo 3

In these waning days 
when I might claim the age of
forty two let me

say without a doubt
there is something to be said
for a number to impart

the answer to life
the universe and everything
a collection of cells

congregating in
the semblance of a response
smiling tongues ululate

knowing ‘I love you’
is what we were meant to say
recognizing faces

as who we once were
who we may one day hope to be
Categories
Poems

JulyPoWriMo 21

Find someone who looks
at you the way my baby
takes a look at her

super high contrast board book
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Poems

JulyPoWriMo 16

How much easier
to remember
your preverbal
existence

how else recognize
that cooing from
sights and sounds
familiar unknown

best respond with
your own
who knows how
to react instinct

if not built in then
part of the line
Categories
Poems

JulyPoWriMo 13

I subscribe
to the scientific belief
that the instrument
beaming back images
with newly discovered
billion year old clarity
are only reflecting
the conditions
that made it possible
for me to take a snap
to capture the cat
stretching goodnight
at your general direction
in the bassinet
Categories
Poems

JulyPoWriMo 10

Anybody else
look at the map
of states that have
banned abortion

and imagine they
make America look
like a dirty diaper?

Just me?
Categories
Poems

JulyPoWriMo 8

A simple checkup
with shots
betrays the faulty evergreen
of consciousness

you mean she weighs as much
as the cats?
Why just yesterday
we went to Target for sleepwear

she has now outgrown
even that a few weeks ago now
you can feel the acceleration
as the weeks shorten

daylight past its pinnacle
we barely punctuate with
sighs too deep for words
just the recognition

she grows into smiles
and occasional grimaces
that will only deepen
as we stay younger than we think

watching the reflection age us
Categories
Poems

JunePoWriMo 30

Cringe at history
playing out before our eyes
while I change diapers

though already full
sometimes she squeaks out some more
now unencumbered

all that we can do
is clean it up as before
we thought we were done

there is always more
but when you least expect it
you’re caught unawares

the remedy in your hands
Categories
Poems

JunePoWriMo 24

Unfathomable
the child I hold in my arms
has fewer rights than

she had when she was
born seven weeks ago now
too late to go back

to when she had more
agency as a fetus—
this future voter

will always know what’s at stake

—And as for the court
the Wordle today is “smite”