Despair

I.

you.

Alone.

Together.

There was nothing

to say. Words failed

us. Hauuuuuuh.

Me in the chair.

You on the bed.

Life is not

fair is

what I wanted to say

not cough and

swallow.

You didn’t even 

look 

when the nurse said 

it's a beautiful day

outside.

It's Not Easy at All to Give Thanks

It's not easy at all
To give thanks.  You recall
I'm sure the day you sent
Me, this heavy present
You wrapped in skin and woe—
With nerves you'd tied the bow!
The day you sent this I:
Unknown, unasked, from high;
With fury, fear, and shame;
With grief, torment, and blame....

The vacuum cleaner drones
And fills the emptiness
With dead skin cells and waste.
This old vacation home
Is where we'll house the guests
This Thanksgiving. What's more,
A child who coughs and spits
Who laughs for no reason
Looks up at me, says thanks.
I don't understand you!

Tragedy of the Little Goat

The moonlit rows of roses guard
my garden's grace.  They taste so good 
to Goldberg's goat.  It coughs and burps 
and rams my door.  Gobbles my reds,
repays in dung.  The scent of stool
should guard my plot.  I shake my head,
I sigh, sit down.  But soon it's she
who turns and eats, my full goatee.