Sheltering in Place

My outdoor garden

is sheltering in place

aware the temps are holding,

holding back

A Woman Assumes a Man

A woman assumes a man

She puts him on like a coat

Against the elements

RCP

That he died is not important.
He did that only once.
That he lived is everything.
He did that every day.

On a Cold Day

On a cold day

in a late Fall

lying behind a dune

Mother's Day 1939

“Take out the crib and leave the playpen, Doc.

The diapers that I’ve got are wearing thin,

the oldest boy has rickets and the skin

on his little sister’s pale enough to shock

The Rib that Got Away

Yes, Adam was asleep

when God lifted his rib

to make him a helpmate

Well, she helped herself

Fascination

A comb

A spritz

A lipstick

The Guitarist That Night

Just thinking about the guitarist that night,

who can sing of love

in the most contorted fashion

until the word has lost all loveliness,

A Ripple

Much as a still body of water,

when a trifling breeze comes up,

feels a ripple start across the pond

searching for the consummation

Saturn Devouring His Children

In a drawing by Goya never held any horror
for me, devouring as any father,
trying to get the Madonna alone and all
the Madonna ever wanted was the kid

To a spider this morning

You seem sure-footed enough

as long as you stay

in your web, filaments so thin

I can't see the spokes