I chase through the night, trying
to catch up with time
The evil taskmaster
that takes what is mine

With each step I take
the future becomes the past
I am not alone, I see others
all around me

Some I know and
have loved from my past
I see them weaken and stumble
before their time, and fall down in sleep

unable the pace to keep
Oh, but I know the sun will again rise
and though weary from my night of running
I open my eyes to mourn another day

Run!
Flee the binding stifling hugs
that you toss aside
blithely
embracing your new northern namaste
with an insouciant shrug!

What does it matter that
your mother
crushed
life previously unravelling
with you as the leading player
dissolves like wet celluloid?

Her memories merge into
one huge sob
and yet
this irrigation will provide
a fecundity of new adventures.

She's just so infuriated with inactivity
her grief is sodden & bloated
begging to be drowned.

The castle is quiet in my head
All talkers ready for bed
Feeling at peace my horse in the saddle
There're no night terrors for me to battle
Just the sleep in my eyes demanding rest.

A few reads of poetry tonight
And some loving critique, none so light
Is what I planned before lights out
Two bottle of antibiotics without a doubt
Can't do a thing for my infectious plight.

On my own shelf,
So far back no one can see,
The doll with the torn dress
And the ripped seams.

Who bothers with a broken toy
When prettier ones abound?
And the child who used me sits
Newer friends in the round.

If you open my dress,
A small dark stitch you will see,
Where once a little red heart
Beating fast used to be.

I was thrown down, unwanted,
And so I walked away,
Back to my gray shelf,
And sat down in the shade.