Discounted Poetry

I read instructions, Put the pegs into their proper holes. I followed the dictated bold red lines Across the mapped terrain, And never strayed Because of trivial distractions. I was tops at making my bed And cleaning my plate. I said my ma'ams and sirs. I mastered every trick, Performed for every town. Nobody mentioned every rule would change, The manuals dissolve. I'm not an amateur or automaton. The discipline solidified My muscles and resolve. It hardened me for action. So dally, flirt, Entice and disappear for days on end. I'm never the sideshow. The big tent is pulling up the stakes And moving down the road. - 12/12/25

The rain Collects in bulges On the petal edges Till it bulbs Too big And drizzles over Leaf and stalk and stem. I always marvel Running my gaze About your origami mouth. 12/11/25

The furry frost Is running down The cars half-dead Inside the parking lot. The winter sun Is blatant, trite, Determined. We will hit The sixties Well before tonight, The earth Entire Melting Elegantly, A breath Held hostage Now unclenched, Finally set free. God must be a French woman. - 12/10/25

Up close I trace your makeup lines, The perfect blush you clumsily applied To perfect cheeks, Your sprightly poetic eyes the brown Of watered earth. Your gorgeous face is like The newborn sun That pierces and plays Upon the sparkling water. I can hardly look And hardly look away. I know Attraction's not a relic Underground, To never chase What should be pouncing Fierce. - 12/9/25

I explored exhibits Tracing history And present geological conditions. I realized My mind was roaming, Conjuring reactions, Thoughts,  Remarks from you All while the warmest wash Cascaded down my bones And something stirred Disturbing, comforting So deep inside my stomach. Friends are more important Than another lover. So I tell myself, But when you're close I nearly touch your skin Instinctively. I healed so greatly From my former romantic disaster. When will I Allow myself to fall again, Or has your gravity Already taken me? - 12/8/25

I guess I watched too many Kurasawa movies after midnight, Trusting you can always simply Wipe the blood from off the blade. Your smile wrapped around entire towns, You at the table with open ears  And gallons of freshest lemonade. At first, I found you fake But after months, I saw your honest heart Was far too large. I wondered when you took a breath. The county fair was underway The start of May. I stole a precious couple of your minutes To escort you through the maze of stands, Amusement contraptions, Curtains promising a woman Turning to a wolf  The other side, The kissing booths, So careful not to touch your overburdened shoulders. Autumn skies Are ending credits in disguise. The rides uprooted, Traveling to warmer southern states. The actors rose and walked Across the graveled studio parking lots To compact grey cars And wound to compact grey houses, Sleeping in until their time on set, Another show, another day. The samurai were dead and never moved again. - 12/5/25

I survived the beating hurricane, The storm that flung me to the shores From boiling seas. A volley from the fleet Encouraged me To cast away the cords, A Gulliver once lying flat on Lilliput Arisen, Dangerously loose With scandalous, enormous feet. You're free to loot the wreckage And to pass me by. You always read a lie, Unsure my dance is nonchalant Or bon vivant. I offer no correction. I am not a meat Beneath a heat lamp On a smorgasbord Awaiting your selection. I am wild in the forest, Speeding through the weeds and over fields. You're leagues behind. Only those who seek Will ever find. - 12/4/25

A squirt of strongest lime To brighten up the dish The flavor's off, Delicious zest sublime For stir fry faded flat. It sat too long. This dinner's isn't worth the effort. - 12/3/25

Drizzled day. The sun is still asleep. It's wrapped in sheets of clouds And lazing under grey and puffy covers. I am listening to softest patter, Cool sensations of dripping skyscape, Currents kind and hungry. Smoothest ripples make me close my eyes And see your hair At highest tide. I breathe you, Misty foggy oxygen Reminding me of measureless expanse of ocean, Subtle rounded shapes Approaching from the atomized atmosphere, The painful pleasure of anticipation. You will make your way To land And settle on my open shores. - 12/2/25

I awake Beneath a butter sun And in the young and yawning dawn, I think of you A midnight way. Your gangly arms Enact exactly what  You're going to say. I need to put my lips To yours And suck down all your words Before they leave your very tender tongue. If you would read The poems written As confessions of such messy sins Inside my hidden files, I know I'd glow A cherry tint. I'm searching for a hint You're bent my way And living in the taunt Meanwhile. - 12/1/25