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Laura

Looking through the old album
A familiar face
A playmate, a teacher
She taught me the joy of reading
She opened a door to new worlds
Created by us
On a carport wall
Of condominiums from shoeboxes for trolls
With blue hair and rhinestone eyeglasses.
Lost now.
A soul unable to find itself
Swimming in limbo, unable to touch or be touched.
Finds release from torment.

I wish I could have pulled her out of her quicksand mind, and reach her like she reached me,
Reached her like I have reached others.
She was a spark whose last ember
Was snuffed out by the pain of life.
At times, I miss Laura.

COUSINS' EYES

Twenty five years have come 'n' gone
Since you drove on back to Tucson.

Now you stand in front of me
With dark penetratin' eyes that see
Like magnetic black holes suckin' down
All light and love that come in-bound.
Childhood memories flood my mind
Flashing colored holograms,
of a bygone trip we left behind.

Your balding head and bearded chin
Your dingo boots, your warm wide grin,
Your handsome wife and rollickin' son,
Lookin' for a bit of fun,
Recede like shadows in the noon-day sun,
In the gaze of your questioning eyes.

I am afraid to look in
In the presence of those eyes.
A recognition of kin
Homemade Halloween disguise.
A funny Man of Tin,
Reaching for those many lost years.
Singin' voices
Screaming laughter
Filling the old Rambler with tears.

You're one of the 5 who came to be
Like sisters and brothers in our family,
Passing time in our daily run
Seeking relief from a simmering sun.
Hidden cigarettes, no one will see
Sending messages
Tree to tree, our AT&T.

Then you all went back.

Twenty five years have come 'n' gone
Since you drove on back to Tucson.
Call me, write me ,visit me,cousin.
(The distance is greater
than 25 years,cousin.)
Yes,Yes, I say
But I can't really betray
Those eyes.

ONCE WE WERE FRIENDS

Once we were friends
Once we were entwined
in each other's lives
Helping, giving, loving.
There for you,
There for me,
Growing up with each other,
Helping the other grow.

Now we are grown
With children, the same;
Yet, worlds apart,
Loving the memories of when we were alone.
See you sometime,hope you are well.

Once we were friends.
Our lives are entwined in others' lives,now.
Can't come this weekend, not good next?
See you sometime,hope you are well,
Loving the memories.

Boston Museum Lady

A lone Lady sat behind me
On a bumpy Boston shuttle bus.
Looking out the window
We saw a silver circus train
Smeared with grimy streaks of rain
I spoke first.
"too bad about the ruts,
... and where 're you from?"
She spilled her guts.

She was 70, but looked much younger,
At first.
A young mother at 20,
A graduate student grandmother at 40,
Divorced at 50, she tauted her profession;
A business lady who traveled for Art
And dated younger men.
Nothing was a mystery
Got her medical history!
A well made Jewish Lady
From L.A. was She,
(A surprise to me)
Siliconed and stretched
with porcelain dentition and a perfect set.
She wore mint green denim overalls,
Her slimness and attire belied her years.
Her bobbed hair was bleached blonde,
But,in the Lady's blue eyes was etched her
Lonely life on the road,
To many places of which she was fond.

Together we got off the bus at Copley Square.
Neither of us wanted to walk alone
As the wind whipped our faces and the sun
shone.
So, we kept the company of the other and
I spent the long mile
Listening.
The Lady from the bus spilled her guts.
My dwindling patience was renewed
as the museum finally came into view.
We each paid and went our own way
Then we wished the other well,
For the rest of our stay.
And that was it on that museum day.
I saw her one last time all packed
In our hotel lobby on the Charles.
She was sitting alone on a wide bench
With valises and shopping bags all stacked
to one side.
Waiting for her ride.