The Rob-Steve look alike contest

they look alike,
they talk alike
bearded, slightly rotund, an open smile.
even their eyes twinkle in the same way,
perhaps they are twins of different mothers.
I like him and
I like him
He likes me
He maybe likes me
He thinks he should like me.
One is R and one is S
one next to the other in the alphabet
they look alike and talk alike
their eyes twinkle
and I like them both.

I call it like I see it

they have been thinking about it for 2500 hours.
that's 2500/40 = 2400/40 + 100/40 = 60 + 2.5 = 62.5 weeks
equals 62.5/52 = 1 + 12.2/52 ~ 1 year, 3 months of a FTE.
I've been thinking about it for a few hours
and I don't like alot of what I see.
I'll call it that way, and wonder why they call
in the so-called experts to say its all ok in a few
hours, the so called experts who until yesterday never
even heard of the project.
They all nod their heads and say ok.
they are all friends.
I call it like I see it, nicely,
but there's alot I don't like.

hidden figures: a personal review

they were hidden in the colored basement
with their own colored bathroom
making calculations for NASA, for the space
program, to fly a man into space
they were the hidden behind the white men
whose names were on the official reports.
I know this.
we are hidden behind our obliging smiles
and careful comportment,
our dresses not too dowdy, not too sexy,
the right mix of charm and smarts
they stepped up the judge's bench
they spoke up
they set up the first IBM and
they became the leaders.
emerging from the colored basement
with its colored lady's room
they flew a man to space.
They dared to challenge the white man's world,
How dare I tremble.

a man's view of what works for a woman in a man's world

they mean well
they love us
but they are not us, they do not experience
what it is to be a woman in a man's world
whether it be that
he is titillated by a skimpy outfit
and she smiles to please him
hoping to get business done quickly so as to
go  home and snuggle up in old sweatpants and
her favorite sweater
my friend meant well when he asked me what was wrong
with skimpy dress
he has no idea what she hides from
her male admirers
he meant well
to share his admiration and love
but he doesn't know the careful dance we do
to make sure we are treated seriously
having honed our own way of navigating in a
mans' world.

we must navigate our own way.

the highest calling

protecting our home is
the highest calling, the most sacred
for without Her, we have nothing,
there is no life, no flowers blooming alongside
running rivers, no birds calling out to one another
at dawn.
the currents of human suffering will continue to flow
and our tears may drench our cheeks but
at least we must protect our home,
Her skies, canyons, and streambeds,
her majesty, her truth, spinning between
sunset to sunrise,
our bodies will come to be born
and then to die in a few hearbeats but
She must live on
adorned with garlands of flowers,
in her magnificence
we must bow in
awe.

It's work to fight for what should be a given

I'm tired, exhausted, from
reading about the next disaster coming down the pike.
another Trump lie,
at least the NYT says it like it is.
but really, the tweets, the posts, the articles,
the reviews, the polls, the petitions, the phone calls,
on top of working and husband
dog and poetry
flute and capoeira
and sanity.
equality, justice, protecting our earth,
reproductive rights, truth, science
these should all be no-brainers
and yet here we are fighting
for what should be a given.

Alternate Facts: The lies for today

 a chair is a table

a bird is a butterfly

Mr. Trump had more spectators at his inauguration

then the number of women marching the day after.

A boy and a girl are pancakes

a carrot is a machine,

illegal immigrants did something

not sure what but it must have

been bad.

Betsy deVos believes in public education,

grapes are marbles

welcome to the twilight zone.

she deserves better

she deserves better,

innocence wrapped in pink and purple

snuggled up against the cold,

she marches with her parents

in solidarity.

we deserve better

all humanity,

black, brown and white

men and women kissing

each other or the other

let there

be love between them and us

we marched in the millions today

for ourselves,

but especially for her

the small ones who 

deserve better.

Preparing for the Womens' March

I've never done it before

Marching down city streets with thousands of others

Sign high in the air

It's amateurish

I'm calling for the requirement of 

Intelligent leadership for a democracy to work.

We don't have one in the current president

The Mr. who I will never call my president

The one who eliminated the white house website

Links to civil liberties, climate change and LBGT

As he paraded down Pennsylvania Avenue.

I've never done this before,

Taping some used white board to a paint stick

From McGuckin, my local hardware store,

Decorating it in a hotel room the night before.

I'll be there with some tens of thousands tomorrow.

Hear our roar.

May peace prevail on earth

tomorrow will be another day,

may peace prevail on earth.

there will be pomp and circumstance,

amidst protestation and distress,

I'll never call him President.

the sun will rise and so will we,

dogs will stretch and yawn,

wagging their tails to go out

and we'll dress to go out, too.

we'll go to work, doing our best.

We know we will have our say

Peace will prevail on earth

if we make it so.

happy birthday to me

happy birthday to me.

happy birthday to me wearing my pink pussy hat,

I'm ready to march with my sisters and brothers

for a better world where all can live freely

in this beautiful land of opportunity.

happy birthday to me,

the little girl who could

in spite of many obstacles

yet receiving the gift of living in this country, 

of receiving help along the way.

I could never have done it alone.

yes, I celebrate my birthday with the man

I love, the third time is the charm.

happy birthday to me,

I celebrate all the gifts which have been given to me

without me even asking.

thank you to the world.

the devil behind the mask

everyone likes him,
the boyish good looks and the open smile,
the sharp intellect fooled them all,
except me
from the first moment until the most recent,
his insincerity is so deep that even he doesn't know
it's there as he fist bumps his colleagues,
friends and family.
I have lived in the shadow
of such men, they also live in their
own shadow.

so worth it

So worth it.

the humiliation of 

the stern gaze, the sharp voice doesn't

even match the illicit pleasure of gobbling 

eight cookies.

Eight!  Just purchased yesterday,

in my happy belly. 

sometimes the ask forgiveness later

is the best, my parents will never not

forgive me.

after the stern look, she gathers the broken

shards of my cookie jar, the very few crumbs

which may have escaped me

and goes back to her usual habits.

she never liked that dog cookie jar

anyway.

I'm sure I did her favor.

'

skating is hard

every time I am surrounded by towering trees
iced in pristine snow,
I am breathing hard and wondering why
why do I do this skating thing
where form falls to the fallacy of
pretending I know how
the hills roll in front of me
I flail over them until I stop and breathe
in magnificent beauty, clean air, silence
but for my breath.
skating is hard
living is hard
remember the beauty along the way.

patience

patience.
a friendship gone to pieces
reasons
that have nothing to do with me
patience
over the years of a cold shoulder
asking my husband out on a Friday night
patience
hoping one day
for warmth
laughing over a margarita
tonight
patience rewarded

Farewell, Obama

if you don't like your leadership, run for office.
go door to door, gather signatures.
talk to your neighbors instead of engaging in warfare
on social media.
we are one country.
i'm following All Together Now,
the leader is in a wheelchair, she' out there
fightin,
what excuse do I have, fit, white, educated.
we are one country
but it's much easier to watch it all go by and
complain, in fear and anger.
I understand this but
we are all one country
from Kentucky to California,
from Boston to El Paso.
I'm not like them except that
I am, we are all human,
we are one country.

Lessons from a dog

how many poems have been written about

lessons from a dog,

to fully immerse yourself in nature,

then carry its beauty along on your nose

as long as it lasts, or until there is something 

better smelling.

humans don't understand such things.

we don't know how to wag our tails,

how to let bygones be bygones

or how to do a full crotch sniff with

no embarrassment,

instead circling each other looking 

for clues of friendship or enmity.

dogs know how to nap while we are at

work, arousing themselves for the good things

in life, dinner, walks, and play.

in exchange for such luxury, they love us

unconditionally no matter who 

we are, but let dogs teach us to be loving

in return, to show acceptance of all.

everyone needs love.

Neighborhood meeting now that I'm the boss

we'll start at 6 p.m. with drinks and tapas
to warm up , get some talk going, get to know each other
gather around the Christmas tree.
the little 4 year old boy wants to know what the
bug-assault weapon is, and tells me all about guns.
he's a boy.
then we'll move over to the other place for the meeting
and I'll pull out my agenda, get everyone seated and
start the meeting.
No unnecessary dwelling on topics that have been
picked to the bone and only one conversation at the time.
I demand politeness but interrupt when necessary.
Three times as many people come to my meetings
because they are fun and productive
and I smile at them.
We cover it all
and I go home.
Mission accomplished.

Blame Mom

She fed us pizza and mac and cheese

Every night, even though we begged for it.

She should have known better.

She dated a really bad guy and talked to him on 

The phone late at night.

She was tired in the morning and we wore

Clothing that didn't match and frayed shoelaces.  

She divorced our dad and then divorced another guy.

She moved us out of the rental house we loved into

This tiny house with really steep stairs.

There were no other kids in our neighborhood.

Sometimes the hamster/guinea pig/rabbits cages smelled bad

And the house was a mess.

She loved us, though, we can't deny

So, we went to college and graduate school

And are successful.

Mom's house is still kind of messy, but not so much

And she still bakes great chocolate cookies

And sets a great example of a good life.

Especially, she still loves us

And we love her, too.

Hot Toddies

Cinnamon, honey and whiskey.
that's all.
really?
must be alot of whiskey to fill up a large mug,
or alot of honey
a cinnamon stick sits forlornly at the bottom
of the empty cup.
I'm happy.
the dishes are done
flute is practiced and put away
a poem slips through my fingers
I'm tired.
having skied this morning
and power napped,
how exhausting so warm in my bed
alone upstairs cocooned in
my covers.
what a wonderful luxurious day
I am so lucky
I never forget it

let's eat lasagna instead

let's eat lasagna instead
of walking downtown, heads down,
the bitter wind cutting through our jackets,
risking our lives at each street crossing.
let's eat warm lasagna and drink lots of red wine
while watching The Crown, immersing ourselves
in the drama of Queen Elizabeth II,
let's finish with tiramisu
and leave the dishes for tomorrow.
yes, let's do that,
let's eat lasagna instead.

in preparation

in preparation for January 21

I will stand out in the cold with the others

pink pussy hat on my head

knitted by another Resistance fighter.

there will be many of us

women, men and children

marching in solidarity against the 

destruction of our environment, 

the pork barrels,

the corruption,

the nepotism,

the gutting of civil discourse

and compassion for those who

need our help,

the helpless,

the poor,

the children,

all of us

actually.

A cat on my corner mailbox

I found a cat in my corner mailbox

so put her outside and painted a blue sky

around her.

To keep her warm, I wrapped her in

her own tail

To keep her alert, I made sure her

ears stuck straight up and her eyes

stare steadily ahead.

She gazes steadfastly at passersby,

most of whom will never notice her.

I wonder how long she was there 

before I did.

Loading the Dishwasher

In principle,

it makes him happy

when I load the spoons in 

the rear basket, instead of the front.

I wanted to make him happy today,

after he has suffered through the clean table

and spotless dinette, his piles of clothes

dumped unceremoniously on the floor

in the other room.

I can do this in a minute,

and I did, actions speak louder

than words, but did he

even notice?

my life as the table

she wants me to be clean, for every painted square
the pink, light blue and navy blue ones to be visible,
for there to be no pools of honey, bread crumbs, used
paper napkins.
a clear clean horizontal surface,
her breath travels across my surface,
dissipating along the lines to the floor.
he abhors a clean surface, I seem to call to him
as soon as I'm clear, first the papers that never
get attended to, then a grocery bag filled with socks
and empty lunch boxes, dirty.
the line is drawn half way across
but he pushes it little by little,
then brazenly covering my entire
surface.
there is war on my surface
it will play out on the pink and blue squares
each side taking position
the pink will win in the end now
since she has bowed to the blue for
too long.
I know this to be true.

Onward

The first day of 2017

we decide to fight against injustice,

tyranny and ignorance.

we will fight against Trump and his brethren,

the ignorance of the gun-toting masses, those who 

believe that asault weapons are necessary for fighting

the very government who sends them welfare checks,

health insurance and Food Stamps.

let the stupid pay their taxes and work 40 hours,

they say with pride

standing by their new leader.

We will march, we will call, we will send

money across state lines, we will finally stand

against, no longer talking in quiet dialogue,

there is no use to it.

this is war

I will be in the trenches.