the end

i'm losing the two men in my life
one to cancer
one to Arizona

they both talk to me
lovingly

they both call me
sweetheart
honey
baby
love...

one is losing his mind
the other is finding himself

where does that leave
me?

yes we can!

regain our faith and trust in the government
and in the world...
hope again...
tell our children that anything is possible...
and mean it...
believe that people can be trusted to do
what's right...
say that we are color-blind-
that black or white, red or blue
doesn't matter...
and, for the first time in ages
we can be proud to be americans...

obama-kah

Shana tova, everyone!

Love and Birds

There once was a man
who loved a little bird.
So much, in fact,
that he clipped its wings
so it couldn't fly away.

But to his chagrin,
he found
it was no longer
the same bird
he had loved so much.
And from that he learned
that love is not about wanting
or having.

It's about loving.

There are two things
I am afraid of.

Birds,
and love.

there is no greener grass, only different shades

one day at age 14

i stood behind the kitchen counter

and declared to my mother

"if i ever get married,

i hope i don't get divorced!"

to which she replied:

"i hope so, too, honey!"

well, here i am

half a life later

separated

with a child

who cries at night

because at 20 months

she is incapable of understanding the words

"daddy doesn't live here anymore."

i felt sorry for myself

for 5 minutes

because we all have something

in our lives

maybe i am one of the lucky ones

i look at other people

and wonder how they managed

to have it all together

how they picked the "right" person

the "right" career

the "right" path in life

and i keep choosing cul-de-sacs

life is a series of one-way streets

we come to a fork in the road

go left or right

can never go back and choose the other

but there are detours

we just have to find them

a couple i know

dear, dear friends of mine

are truly in love

they waited to have a child

and she is gorgeous

perfect, but for a chromosome

she has no muscle tone

they will lose her, most likely,

before her first birthday

but they delight in her smiles

they have never been happier

they say

this fellow is amazing

lost his wife to a blood clot

she was on the way to hold

their newborn daughter, for the

first time

only she didn't make it

he lost his soul mate

but he has the little girl

to treasure

if given a chance

would either change their path?

i can't say

but i know that if i were in their place

i would not

people are always saying the grass is greener....

but i don't think that it is

i think there are many different shades of green

we must be content with the hue of our garden.

summer

i've always loved the summer
walking barefoot in the warm grass
or on hot asphalt
warm rain
thunderstorms
the smell of barbeques on
neighbors'patios
sun, warmth, light, life

the way time seems to stand still
and each day seems to run into the
next
with interludes of moonlight
and chirping crickets
which give way to sunrises
sunlight
and peace

perspective

logic tells me
it's a drinking
fountain

but percetion tells me
it's a urinal
tiny, ceramic, yellowed
it clings to the wall
in the library lobby.

i want to drink
but i am afraid
of what i might catch

what if someone sees me?
i scan my surroundings
there's no one.
that's a relief.

i bend myself forward
pull the lever
and prepare my lips
to drink
and lap up
the stale, tepid water.