March Poems

1.

Love is a parakeet in a shoebox

Dog hair on black sweatpants

A litter box in the downstairs bathroom

Farts, laundry, in-laws, fights, finances

Money under a pillow for a tooth in your pocket

The memories you can't escape

Your enemy, your vices, your first something

Fresh snow, eighty-five at the beach

A day off, a haircut, a chocolate bar

Laughing at a funeral and crying at a graduation

Kisses, hugs, handshakes, tickling

Flyers on a corkboard that say 'Missing'

Seeing a heart in the clouds, a meadow at dusk

Ownership, purpose, a picture

A book you can't put down, a song on repeat,

It's then and now

It's tears falling on a dead bird in a shoebox

2.

Warmth crawls down the slides of sun rays after the rain

A bluebird the size of my fist dips its beak into a puddle

The air is still, and some of nature is still hiding

The forecast says the rain’s coming back

Walking to the mailbox, it's hard to believe.

3.

Moffet Field's endless concrete

B-52s, Warthogs, Thunderbirds

Walking between wings of the static ground display

Stopping to take the Pepsi Challenge and for you to get a beer

The smell of Miller, melting tar on pavement, and gasoline

Your hands intertwined behind your back

Looking up at a flyover

The Blue Angels, you say

My brother and I step over cables to step on grated metal stairs

Who knows why air shows were your thing or why?

On the walk back through the parking, wearing hats and shorts

We killed a whole day at the air show