out the window

billowing by in a hurry
to the left of my window they move
shape shifters in the wind
they change with each passing moment

heavy on their bottoms
blue with impending rain
they keep on moving
always on the run.

campfire

Pungent smoke surrounds me
to fill the fibers of my hoodie,
glowing embers tremble
burning red, orange, black and gray.

Whispering heat moving
across the summer air.

Marshmallows soft in the center
their outer shells crack
as I squish them between graham crackers
and chocolate in the dark.

Elegy for my Father

NOTE: My father died from emphysema the winter after I graduated college. He had been a smoker since he was a teenager. Smokers may think that smoking only affects them, but it also affects your family. As emphysema progresses, physical activity decreases to the point of immobilization. As you can imagine, my father missed out on some things.

For over ten years
you were slowly dying.
Another day, another pack of cigarettes,
the foul orange butts collected on the ground like tally marks.
Everyday your footsteps were silently stolen
as you cupped the lighter near your face.
Until you could no longer take us on vacation,
leave the house, or get out of bed.
The last months you were in your own morphine world
with brief moments of clarity.
We stayed with you then,
unsure of what would happen next.
The rhythmic sounds of the oxygen machine
filled the room as we waited
until the last struggle for air
brought you to an end.

Potassium Pistols

They look as if they might still be good

but they are too brown in some places.

Bruised.

Ovals left where one has grabbed

a little too hard, an imprint on skin.

In your hand they give softly

No, these are not good.

They still smell like bananas
but older, muskier.

The way all things smell

when left untouched.

Kerouac is my haiku hero

girls laughter
sounds the same everytime,
annoying
.....
gooseberry
falls, tripping on root
laughing and bleeding
.....
slowly closed the door,
cabinet that held poems
of my stuggle
.....
Bebo, my beta
wags his tail
like a dog
.....
bittersweet smell
of dying petals
trampled under foot