Cold

she marvels that she skied as long
as the temperature was above -20,
and now she shivers below 30, her
teeth chattering, her mood
plummeting as rapidly as
the temperature.

Friday Night without Yoga

He didn’t go to Core Yoga after all
last Friday night, preferring to get
a life, have a date, drink a beer.
It was tough at first, his arms twitching
to drop down into Downward Dog,
a pose we all learn at Harvard.
After a few beers, fully relaxed,
a beautiful woman at his side, he forgot
what he loved about Core Yoga.
It must not have been important.

Flying Pigs

They were waiting at the front door
this morning, several of them in their
modest brown coats, a few in black
and white, demanding as usual.
I was looking for the NYT to settle
in close to the radiator, drink a coffee,
watch the birds at the feeder.
The thugs at the front door demanded
that another task be completed first.
I pulled on my boots and trudged
through newly fallen snow to the
bird feeder, under many watchful
beady eyes.

Call me when you love me

she left me a message to
call her when I decided that I love her again,
is that love between the ten seconds
that pass when she is not on my
mind, in my mind, in my heart,
or when I am not writing
her before I leave for work, or at work
When would I call her when I
am not totally in love with her
as I have been from the
moment she entered this
world?

Boy Movies

I can’t quite imagine a girl
coming up with this plot:
the ultimate heavy duty vehicle,
the armored truck doing wheelies
in a high speed chase after a
botched heist, where money
cases blow up, men jumping to
their deaths from bombed out
warehouses or from gunshot
wounds from the other deranged
participants.
It’s a boy movie, I murmured to
S, as we walked out of the movie
theater. The next movie better
be a chick flick.

No One is Playing Basketball Tonight

No one is playing basketball tonight.
It’s dark outside, the ice lies in sheets
across the court, and it’s 16 degrees,
that’s Fahrenheit, not Centigrade.
No one is playing basketball tonight,
the court is empty, calling for his
companions, to feel the ball bouncing
across his asphalt, to see the
players jump up, touching the
rim as the ball swishes through
his hoop, hurtling downward
back towards the earth.

Two Slices of Pumpkin Pie

there were two pieces in the Tupperware container;
they were both the same size and so I couldn’t eat
the bigger one.
i ate a piece of one slice and meant to keep the
rest for later; i did wait until later, about 30
seconds later, and then another 20 seconds and
then it was gone.
i wanted the second slice and i wondered if
i could neatly slice away part of it without S
noticing and decided it would be obvious.
i hid the pie in another room and told him to
come over soon to eat his pie, before it
disappeared into the unknown.