October 31, 2018

Hallowe’en visit —
King T’Challa
changes the game


October 30, 2018

giving up and in
not minding when a cold wind
undoes me again


October 29, 2018

wind taking the turn
around the corner too fast —
songs of my childhood


October 27, 2018

a runaway dog
takes a break to bark at us —
even the rain stops


October 26, 2018

mail-in ballot —
I find your old love letters
and vote for you again


October 25, 2018

colder days —
finding old lozenges
in my coat pocket


October 24, 2018

finally cold
we make room on the couch for
all this attraction



October 23, 2018

a fox jumped, then pounced —
such breathtaking precision!
just as we passed by


October 22, 2018

sweeping our walkway
I lose track for looking up —
clouds and the moon


October 21, 2018

seeing the rain’s edge
yet unable to stay dry —
more fatherless days


October 20, 2018

a sharp crack
as an acorn hits the pavement —
even the squirrel jumps


October 19, 2018

Pine, Maple, Linden —
we walk home through the tree streets,
leaves letting go


October 18, 2018

a gentle dampness
in the curls at your neck —
knowing just how that feels


October 17, 2018

cold sinking down
where no layers seem to reach
deep in the marrow


October 16, 2018

space between crickets —
we move to shield each other
from the growing cold


October 15, 2018

the sound of her loom —
squirrels digging holes and still
trusting memory


an owl’s single note
knitting up my fitful sleep —
cold October night


October 14, 2018

he lost his accent
except when he was counting —
front entry stairs



October 13, 2018

a limping deer
trying to outrun its pain —
we look away


October 12, 2018

words snagging
on the jagged edge of loss  —
past tense caught in my throat



words snagging
on the jagged edge of loss  —
past tense caught in my throat


October 11, 2018

coyote moon —
only self-imposed silence
keeps us from howling


October 10, 2018

I barely saw it —
just after the whoosh of wings
a bird-shaped hole


October 09, 2018

acorns underfoot
and the sounds of squirrels chiding:
we were saving those!


October 08, 2018

tiny grey-brown mouse —
I coax the other women
down off their chairs


October 07, 2018

the name of the star
whose light keeps you on course —
whisper it to me


October 06, 2018

we will dance again —
whose turn is it
to believe?


October 05, 2018

chasing good sailing —
in the leaves and whitecaps
we watch for the wind


October 04, 2018

we keep the dead tree
because the birds gather there —
stories of my father


October 03, 2018

days full of sighing —
no matter which way I turn
grief is there, waiting


October 02, 2018

a ten-point buck
fading back into the field
without a rustle


October 01, 2018

translucent silk —
I carried her to safety
by that single thread