Little Zoe

Her
heart
was flawed
not her soul:
naturally trusting
transforming lives in six short months.

And other Philosophers

Oat
groats
rolled flat,
granola
added for texture,
with fruit to move an inert will:

Breakfast for first graders, and other                             philosophers.

A Foreign Mercy

Stunned
squirrel
bloody
and shaking,
road kill slow to die.

A tourist's swift kick brought mercy
but the natives were scandalized and called it               cruelty.

Like a Boss

Flat
tire
at noon,
patiently
embracing Fate's hand
while waiting for the tow to show.

She is casually eating groceries from the trunk.

Bye Ku: Daniel Lyndon

He
twice
voted
Obama
because Roosevelt
"won the war and beat depression."

Sometimes he embraced change;        other times change embraced him.

Mississippi

Slab
of
limestone:
her morning
yoga studio.

A river rolls before her.

Quantity vs

Chicks

dig

big mutts,

chunky lugs

who slobber and eat

groceries enough to bankrupt Trump. But Grandma said, "better to measure the heart and mind."

What if?

Road
side
fork horn
in velvet,
young, dumb, unsure, and
a trophy to the baser tastes.

Yet imagine if he survives another two years.

Me-Child Joy

Kill
deer.
Killdeer,
prarie friend,
coaxing me forward
with her old, "Look, I'm injured!" trick:

forty-one and still feeling the joy of the me-child.

Shawnee National Forest

Trains
call
and 'yotes
in reply
where the thick night air
touches river, field, and forest:

final moments, final day, and a final goodbye.