First Snow It was the first snowfallof the season. Our boots crunchedcrunched, crunchedthrough the streetas we walkeddown our avenue. We laughed,we sang,our voices brightin the cold. A neighbor heard us,came out grinning,pelted us with snowballs. We scattered, shouting,our breath risingin steamy cloudsthat drifted,then vanished. We were livinginside that moment,not yet knowinghow alive we were.

My Rescue Dog His smelly breath greets me each morningas he crawls into my warm bed.Those sad eyes plead for attentionat five‑thirty a.m., he isn’t picky. He’ll take anything:a scratch behind the ears,an arm draped over his back,the simple comfort of being pulled close. We drift back to sleep for a while.When I wake again,…

A strong woman pulls at her heart with both hands, knuckles swollen, skin split, eyes worn soft at the edges by years of salt. A strong woman keeps her truths just behind the breastbone. She swallows what rises, lets it burn its way down. A strong woman will hold you, stroke your hair, and coo, Shush now, my darling, my turtle dove. Her love does not…

What can you discover? What can you create? Inside yourself, What do you see? past your feelings your emotions past your thoughts in the crevices where memories collect where shadows float moving in and out like fog at dusk. This is who we are. Reality does not exist in front of our eyes, does not…

               I wrap around your fingers, like modeling clay, as you squeeze it. You squeeze, roll me between your palms, then flatten me again. Taking the shapes your hands create, moving to the force of you. What if Gumby had copped an attitude, jumped on Pokey, and run? What if Gumby found himself and said,…

We tried to create love  out of piles of ashes  from the blitzkriegs  of our childhoods.   Using saliva   from wet kisses   as mortar to   to fortify this  crumbling love.  Intense flames  of anger, of bitterness,  dried out our false idol  and it collapsed  blowing away  In the winds of truth.  You feigned sorrow  at its ruin.  after acts of empty cruelty  you brought…

You gathered our memories putting them in a box Hundreds of pictures encapsulating our journey Then you packed your things and took the next flight out Across the country to L.A. to begin your new life A journey without me You ditched the pictures in a dumpster behind a Minimart in Arcadia On West Duarte…

The Moment Her scent beckons—Come, take me to wonder.Her eyes speak in silence;She holds answers to mysteries,Resting in the small of her back. I could name constellationsIn every galaxy under heaven.Her body, a painter’s dream—I trace it gently with my fingertips;Each stroke reveals new beauty. Secrets drift from hidden places,Filling my mind with liquid verse—Sounds…

This Blog is a new beginning. A place to display my original Poetry, Essays, Short Stories. A place to express myself to foster creative growth and healing. If you stumbled upon this site I hope you find something that touches a part of you. Shadow Poet