a secret

each tree 

waits for you

to look at it

with love

and say hello

my dear friend

*

can you imagine

what if

every sentence we spoke

was a melody

what if

every conversation we had

was a symphony 

*

just a thought

he asked

why watch sunsets

when you see one

each night

i said

why wouldn’t you

when no two

have ever been alike

*

you brave soul, you

sometimes

the most courageous thing

you can do

is to share your heart

with a world

all too eager

to tear it apart 

*Published in Fireflies’ Light: A Magazine of Short Poems #18

the art

of imperfection

drizzled caramel

*Published via the Poetry Pea podcast (Series 3, Episode 6: Recipes)

twilight. Every seed in his spine thirsted

*

a rifle. Cast grey from intermittent rain, this dawn

*Published in Bones 19

awaiting

the sweet scent

of April

I choose

bright colors

instead of black

*

warmer now

I leave home

without trepidation 

of the wind’s

sudden bite

against my neck

*

regardless

of winter’s savagery

flowers return

bold and lovely

I have

so much to learn

*

crabapple

magnolia 

cherry 

spring is

a reunion 

of friends

*Published in the Poets Salon (coloradoboulevard.net) on 3/11/20

a remedy

for lack of friends -

American Girl catalogue 

*Published by The Asahi Shimbun (Asahi Haikuist Network) on 3/6/20

uncle’s roaming solve for X

*

ordinary. Mother stumbled away from the fire, forgetting

*

crows on wires. “Y’only remember the bad,” he said

*Published by Weird Laburnum on 3/1/20

Not to be THAT girl, but...

A dumpster literally caught on fire

at my apartment complex,

and I’m all like, “Why you gotta

be a harbinger ‘n shit?”

*Published by One Sentence Poems on 2/29/20

dandelions. In another universe, we might have been

*Published by Heliosparrow on 2/29/20

in the boneyard of your story a crow splinters marrow

*

soft rain in the belly of a cello

*Published in Issue 16 of NOON: journal of the short poem

beatings. Like I said, after the sermon we

*Published in the February 2020 edition of is/let

as if it were dripping from each star. This night

*Published in the February 2020 edition of is/let

wingspan

of an albatross

this hope

*Published in the February 2020 issue of Stardust Haiku 

because it can winter howls

*Published in the February 2020 edition of is/let

silver lining

in the blizzard

moonlight

*Published in the January 2020 issue of Stardust Haiku 

plot

twist

the

home

without

ghosts

*

desert

this how are you

fine thanks

*Published by Weird Laburnum on 1/16/20

One Drop

At some point, 

in the lifespan of my soul,

I want to know what it’s like

to be one drop of rain.

To fall from the sky and splash

into a flower,

and then linger

in its luxurious core.

Perhaps I could then,

every so slowly,

like the beginning of a rollercoaster,

dive from petal to ground,

and then nestle myself deeper,

deeper, deeper

into the warmth

of an inviting earth,

simply to rest forever

in her arms.

*Published by Dear Reader on 1/15/20
**Published in the Coshocton Public Library System’s Pandemic Spring: Poems to Get Us Through on 4/2/20

bass solo

rumbles of thunder

shake me awake

*Published by Haikuniverse (www.haikuniverse.com) on 1/11/20

before we were human the sparrow’s call

*

midnight

don’t we all

birth a universe

*

moonlit grass when our lives converge

*

free

if only

a theory

*Published by Heliosparrow on 1/10/20

*The first poem was short listed for The Haiku Foundation’s Touchstone Individual Poem Award

blank canvas

the earth covered

in fresh snow

*

a brush

of color

...spring returns

*

the Master’s Hand

flowers here

and there

*

a few leaves

redden

...chiaroscuro

*

endless art

nature’s glory

throughout the year

*Published in the winter 2020 edition of The Bamboo Hut

Elegy in 4/4

Neil Young once sang

it's better to burn out

than to fade away     which was

also    coincidentally

quoted at the end of Kurt Cobain’s

suicide note

we're always fixated     on youth

aren't we?

better to be famous when

old men can     sexualize // monetize you

when you

look taut in bikinis and heels

as saliva drips on

the magazine spread

your legs

Christina Aguilera once sang

you gotta rub me the right way

as a teen     and even as a teen I

knew that was super creepy

but that’s still played

on the radio     and we all

listen to it     bob our heads

sing along like

whatever

have you ever thought that     when Britney

the Spears one     went batshit

and shaved her head

maybe that was the first thing

she could do

for herself

*Published in Kissing Dynamite Issue 13

ripped wings what you make of faith

*Published in Sonic Boom Issue Sixteen
**Selected for the 2019 Red Moon Anthology

If I May Be Honest

not enough love poems

have been written

for the leaves

sparkling wildly

in golden hour light

or the river’s

tender aria

playing dawn to dusk

simply

for anyone who

wishes to hear

*Published in Fireflies’ Light: A Magazine of Short Poems #17

Why Not

you can be

anything in the world

so why not

be a parachute

covered in the most luminous

warm hues

helping others land

gracefully

after a most precarious fall

*Published in Fireflies’ Light: A Magazine of Short Poems #17

Hummingbird

it must be

how starlight

falls upon this

foreign city

because I tell you

I could roam this earth

non-stop

as the vagabond

I wish I could be

with only the essentials

slung upon my back

and your hand

nestled in mine

*Published in Fireflies’ Light: A Magazine of Short Poems #17

First Snow

when I see

for the first time

each year

the way snow reflects

a shimmering moon

upon a world 

fast asleep

I might as well

be a child again

opening her first present

on Christmas Eve

*Published in Fireflies’ Light: A Magazine of Short Poems #17