That summer I rode a bike in circles around the complex. Free. At ten.
I peddle, create, choosing my life.
Close my eyes. Smile. I’m there again.

I cannot control others, and people can be real dicks.
But they won’t win by making me mad I’m at peace. Laugh & blow a kiss.

Feelings are big
I get my hands dirty
Digging up soil to repot
The roots of a plant
Remind me of growing,
Suppressing the worry
For my kids and the lot.
Nature knows better.
Balance will come
Those who in power
Will fall.
This is my comfort.
Nourishing seeds
Who will someday
Outgrow us all.

By word, by line, by page, a book.
A story for connection.
The word, the line, the page rewritten.
Practice not perfection.

While a flower is rooted
The seeds are like little feathers
Made to fly,
And they do.
We can be all we want, too.

Most start their new year
On January first.
Since school, mine starts today.
Regardless, a snail goes,
And they go.
They slowly
Go on their path this way.

Their lunch, their clothes
I bought them those.
But now it’s all their decision.
As a mom, letting go
Of control
Comes easy when
Curiosity bubbles
Of my children’s vision.

I can see the stars where I live.
All this room,
Sometimes it feels too big.
Although in this corner of Earth,
I feel safe where
I can wish.
I can believe.
I make mistakes.
The night lights up when
We close our eyes to dream.

Grab a pen
I might forget
The words spilling out
Get it,
My memory empties
Like water from a spout
I used to,
Before,
What was I saying?
Poetry goes and comes
But my mind isn’t what it was
A pen! Do you hear that?
A freeing, soft hum.

Common sparrows fight and forage
In the bitter orange tree
Along the Nile River
Although historic, life is ordinary
As it is
Everywhere.

How confusing for the bee
To look out a glass
Window. See
Sunflowers, but trapped inside,
From an open door.
She still flies.
Buzz! Buzz! Feeling for a breeze.
No time for stopping.
Then… she’s free!
There’s work to do.

I leave too.

I do it all the time,
Love to bake
Get out of my head
Make sweets instead
Until
I dropped an egg
Like a rookie.
A GASP.
Slow to the goal: cookies.

I saw a spider in the corner of the room,
But I was wrapping gifts. My son’s birthday’s soon.
I used a wrapping paper roll to move it outside.
Moving fast before it abandoned the ride.
It ran off into the great outdoors, under the moon.
If only I could help ALL from an unnatural, aimless doom.

Chasing dreams
With closed eyes
To avoid an ocean of emotion
And judgment,
But then I
Fall.
Done.
The dream whispers
Get up,
Open,
& RUN.

As the sun rises, I applaud the beeping microwave.
_______________________________________
As the microwave beeps, I applaud the rising sun.

After a long day
I look up at the flames
Let it burn.
No more moves in this phase
Come what may.
Let it burn.
The lavender sky glitters
I dream for something bigger.
The end creates
A brand new slate.
The plans, the past: Let it burn.
There is no playbook for what’s next.
And it’s great.

Happy at home I live quietly
Until creativity
Came like a bird
Singing of their struggles
Adventures, & wins
I translate their song into words.
Come down, closer I say,
Why do you hide
Yet tweet so loudly?
But the bird kept on
As I thought of a trap
When another responded behind me.