Simplicity

If you look close enough
a garden becomes a meadow,
walls give way to windows.

A magpie watches from the edge,
jaws at anything complex.

It is time to throw out mismatched socks,
the king-size that never fit;
stuff the cache in yesterday's hamper,
unfence simplicity.

We find beauty in clothespins, hairpins,
a line swaying behind a dryerless nest.
The wet towel we share.


tk/January 2015


A rare glimpse of R.A.D. Stainforth in color...his most beautiful read to date...

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No Third Thing

Only so much room in a lifeboat,

half-capacity sixareen.  Bushel basket.

Butcher.  Baker.  Maybe

a candlestick-maker;

the notables cross over

in threesomes.

Synchronicities flutter in threes,

casually.  Historically informed,

hinting at world harmony;

a table of elements

that dissolves on the tongue

like rice paper, moths.

This time it's fresh;

just the northeast wind.  

Ball of string.  Buttermilk sky.

A buoyant list scrawled

on a paper kite:

1.  I am loved

2.  There is solace

There is no third thing.

tk/September 2014

Beautiful read by R.A.D. Stainforth...and a bit of music as well...

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Refit

The walls are empty,

pocked with nail holes,

shadows of pictures―

a room without windows.

Too many years

since the piano was tuned.

Behind the sofa no longer

a good place to hide.

Laughter sleeps like stones

under shroud sheets.

I have forgotten

the dance, the lampshade.

I pull a chamois from my pocket―

not going over Jordan―just spring cleaning.

Dust smells new:  a scent of yellow.

The holes stare with tiny, hammered eyes.

I could use a shovel. 

tk/March 2014

R.A.D. Stainforth breathes a bit of freshness to my words:

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*Lee Plaza Hotel, Detroit, photo by Bonnie Beechler

Balloons

Stretch tight over dizzying breaths― 

float free, without string.

Seek new perspective

from the living room ceiling― 

bend, squeak, twist,

dazzle hemispheres.

Edge close to the sofa― 

the first intimate spin

connects rampant static.

Rise above the night sky― 

pull magnetic on paths coincident.

Take care not to burst

against the points of stars.

tk/July 2013 

Many thanks to R.A.D. Stainforth for adding breath to my words.  

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