huddled in a circle
the heat of
mortar fire

my sleepless nights
are her dangerous days
same stars

half a world away
she whispers my name
I jolt awake

the twin feels
her sleeping sister's fear
a war away

top quarter champion =

top half champion =

bottom quarter champion =

that Iraqi's hand
reaching to shake mine
or make obscene gestures?

my drunken friend
provides his checklist of sorrows
to the fireflies

alone
in the garden
single bloom

war torn country
just a simple glimpse
from our TV dinner

top half champion =

champion =

bottom half champion =

without meaning to
taming the spirit
school bell buzzes

intellect on rye
threatening to leave
the country

I’ll slip through your fingers
and leave my mark
I’m water that burns

summer gust
stirring the ashes
of our past

top quarter champion =

bottom half champion =

bottom quarter champion =

mountainside path
a single tree
rooted in stone

stray cats
my grandmother
with a BB pistol

oops, I did it again!
the hamburger churns in my stomach
like regret

Mom’s Friday sigh
filling the Tupperware
with my sloppy joe