the more I like
flat shoes
bare wrists
shaving less
and short lists
and the more I know
the importance of
bran
elevators
family
and short lists
and the more I am thankful
for every day
with you
and the absence of
lists
photo credit: Juan Croatto
AND a Happy New Year to all!
with apologies to Will Shakespeare
So many footlights burned out
spotlight jarred askew
curtains removed, scrim gone
proscenium arch stands stark.
Program says Act Three,
audience hushed, anticipates tragedy.
Director expects me, in shrouded black,
to slump upon the floor.
The script be damned.
Bulges revealed in sequined leotard,
fish net stockings over varicose veins.
Audience gasps at tapping frenzy
shuffles, wings, and Rockette highs.
Grinning, laughing, I finally decide,
this coda shall end.
And in the pit, the timpani booms
as I exit like a flying dervish
to joyous applause.
Please mouth the words
so we can win.
She did. They did.
And she never, ever
sang again.
Hatless, wind ruffled hair
winter snow flake dandruff
red ears and mustache icicles.
Iowa snow gnome I am
when I see my breath.
Ninety percent of your body heat
escapes from your head.
Well mom, that’s why I’m so cool!
Photo: corner of Boston’s Court and Tremont Streets several winters ago. Story behind the giant tea kettle: manufactured in 1873 by Hicks & Badger; a “sign” outside the old Oriental Tea Kettle shop. Signs were common in early Boston to identify shops for those who could not read. On January 1, 1875 a contest was held to guess its capacity and Boston’s Sealer of Weights & Measures officially measured it. 10,000 spectators stood by as 8 boys and 1 tall man concealed themselves inside the kettle. The court was officially measured to hold 227 gallons, 2 quarts, 1 pint, and 3 gills. An attached mechanism produced steam. To this day, in the cold winter months, steam is seen coming out of the kettle. Starbucks made a wise decision to place their store here!
Poetry prompt: final assignment in Fall 2015 Poetry Apprenticeship with Holly Wren Spaulding: write an “advice” poem — perhaps from shoulds and should nots of your early days!
Carmen Miranda,
her dancing model supreme
only not with fruit.
Carmen Miranda, pictured on Click cover, was a Portugese Brazilian singer, dancer, Broadway actress and film star popular in the 1930s to 1950s. Photo on right is cousin Janice, always a very happy and lively dancer!
Dear Iowa,
It was osmosis.
City girl absorbed red barns
waving cornfields and fresh plum jam
tractors spewing dust from dawn
drop-in neighbors and party-line phones
sheets flapping on backyard lines
towns without stop lights
and churches with hats.
Neon lights are not fireflies.
Lillian
I am an old woman
with the audacity to hope.
I shall wear purple
and travel to 1,000 places,
walk in the woods, eat, pray
and make love to a staggering genius.
I shall write letters from the earth
to all my friends above.
Tell them plain and simple,
at this age, the heart leaps
much higher than leaden feet
and I intend to do the long jump.
I will not stay off camera.
And I will settle for nothing less
than a raucous standing ovation
when I do decide to exit
center stage.
In the form of Found Poetry: created from book titles on my shelf – When I am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple, The Audacity of Hope, 1,000 Places to Live, A Walk in the Woods; Eat, Pray, Love; A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Letters from the Earth, Plain and Simple, and Off Camera.
October 31, 2015
He chose a hickory nut tree
acorns too dainty,
tinny in their ping.
Tree-felled hickory nuts
percussive on the roof
pelted solid deep raps.
Band leader by trade
he created a Sousa drum line
directly above our heads.
Photo credit: Mike Vam. John Phillip Sousa: 1854 – 1932. American composer most famous for his military marches IE Stars and Stripes Forever and Sempir Fidelis (official march of the U.S. Marines).
She got up on the wrong side of the bed
to a cacophony of sound.
Cats with top hats chased red booted unicorns
down the neon road
beneath her webbed feet.
Flamingos squawked,
slipping up a red licorice slide.
A bubble floated by
with Dorothy and Toto on a hammock inside,
stretched from one iridescent curve to the other.
She wanted to climb inside and lie down
or find some peppermint tea.
She licked her fingers
and slowly remembered
those funny looking mushrooms
on the other side of the bed.
Photo taken on our Alaska hike through the Tsongas Forest.
Wrap around porch with hanging swing
iced tea chats and potted plants
playing dolls with Junie Z
on a summer night lit by fireflies.
Sliding glass door shut ramrod tight
concrete slab with charcoal grill
removed from prying eyes.
Two steps to double locked doors
reined in yard with triple garage
and wooden horse blinder fence.
The word neighbor? Gone.
It hopped a moving van,
took a right on the expressway
and drove right out of our lexicon.
lillian the home poet 