JESSICA ELIZABETH

 

We met over pasta when you were 18

And I was more than a tad older.

You waited on me

And while I waited on you

We spoke of my ever-present reading material

Something on meditation and desire.

You spoke of your mother

And how she was the spiritual type

Sounded like a hippie sort to me

Just friendly and wise

And obviously sexy like you.

I didn’t know that she was gone.

But I knew that you were here

Now

In the present moment

The most alive creature I had ever known

All tangled between innocence and loss

Experience and discovery

And I yearned for more.

Your smile

Radiant and electric

From the moment our eyes met

And not just that practiced

“Please tip me, sir”

smile of a waitress dressed up

alluring and serving

just enough to entice

a few extra percentage points from my wallet.

This smile said, “Teach me.

I’m ready for more.

What can you tell me of life

That will make all this pain

Go away

All of these questions

Make sense.”

The smile that began answering

those same questions for me.

~ for Ms. Mitchell

EPICENE SCENE

Quite taken by women who go by guys names
Not a conscious decision but a trend I can claim
Feminine handles are lovely and fine
Fall for the Susies, and some Carolines
The Mollys, and Marys, and Guens I adore
of course, there's Michelle, and Danielle and lots more,
The Lisas, the Lizzys, the Lizas and Vals
and the Cindys, the Barbs, I like all of those gals
There's Sallys, the Charlenes, the Colleens and Beths,
The Jens and the Annies and all of the rest
But there’s something intriguing
Bout the Martis and Sams
The Rickies, the Bobbis, the Kellys, hot damn
A Casey, A Tracy, A Stacy or two
There’s Teri and Jeri and Jamie and Drew
A Leslie, a Billie, a Robyn and Jo
Carrie, and Taylor and Pat, don't ya know.
An Alex, a Jordan, a Toni and Kris
A Dusty, a Niki and one named Frances
There's Lynn and there's Sandy and when Sunny gets blue
There's Ashley and Ali and maybe you too.
And even though spellings aren’t always the same
I’m somewhat intrigued by an epicene name.

FAITH IN THE ADORABLES

What is this wealth of riches
Working hard not to sacrifice my deep respect
Striving, polishing my honesty and reflection
For those who give me their cherished moments
Their subdivided hearts willingly;
For those who share their stories
Aches and joyous epiphanies;
For those whose fingertips trace
Epic tales of romance across my furrowed countenance
Lost loves, souls torn with time’s scornful glance
Life’s diverted energies focused
If ever so briefly upon my grizzled grin,
Whose hands hold all of this very moment’s hopefulness
Whose lips whisper the only truths we are sure of
Whose arms comfort and envelop me
In their neediness as well as mine.
I praise the deep longing for what only we can give each other
Whatever is distinct from what the next will give,
The last withheld,
from the dream we all search for
of The One we may never find.

How I cherish their willingness to accept my fragility
My smokescreens, my flailing attempts at flinging myself head on
Into the path of the battering ram of self-reliance --
Oh, how they surround my aging gracelessness with the kindness
Of compassionate longing
And what they find there in the darkness is me.
Simple in the very complexity that I brandish
A credo of web-like stickiness
What is and what should always be
never quite making the grade
That they see in me what I do in them--
Humanity masquerading as something so much grander
Reaching for the ring and reaching yet again
And we hold each others care to our hearts
Defying definition by any previous standards
Because our friendships
Our devotions
Our lusting and loving
Can only be seen as the courting of the impossible
Of the toe-on-the-rail, abyss leaping swan dive
into The Perhaps.

Leap with me, wrap your wings around me
Adorables
Freefall together
Past jealousies, fear, doubt
As lovers, muses, friends,
Believing
In love’s mystery
The heart’s resilience
The soul’s compassionate grace
Believing
In the undiscovered moment.

- For The Adorables: JS, MM, RR, SV - the amazing women in my life...alphabetically, of course ;-)