February 2021
About Poemography
To commemorate the tenth anniversary of my Poem-A-Day Project, I am reprising my daily poetry challenge in 2021.
Every day this year—from January 1st until the 31st of December—I will create a new poem inspired by whatever moves me at the moment I sit down to compose that day's poem, publishing them here with subscription-free access for all.
Every Tuesday throughout the year, I will write and publish one bonus poem that will be available exclusively to my Patrons on Patreon.
In 2022, I will publish a book of my complete poems, spanning more than 40 years of poetry writing. The complete collection of poems will be published in a limited edition hardbound book available for purchase. As an added feature, I'm considering releasing some of the poems in this collection as spoken word recordings by a variety of special guest readers. Enjoy the year!
28FEB21
Ziz (זיז)
Wings large enough to blot out the sun
Casting shadows over barren wastelands
Standing tall where green forests once stood
Drinking from the vastness of blue ocean waters
Flying is a lonely affair in skies void of matter
Tumid clouds harboring droplets and crystals
Indolent stars drifting aimlessly in their orbits
Faint moons and planets spinning recklessly
And just as I closed my eyes for the last time
A familiar voice called to me from the valley
Blowing in an on a sweetly fragrant breeze
Whispering words that only I could decipher
I woke up to find the apparition had gone
What remained was a single silken feather
A fragment of love's physical embodiment
That would nourish us for a thousand lifetimes
27FEB21
Competitive Spirit
Passed many afternoons at the Horwich JCC
Pick-up games on sleek squeaky wood floors
I was the kid that nobody ever picked
Awkward in my Stan Smiths
Watching the Myers brothers
Before I even knew who they were
Yeshiva bochers with their dangling tzitzis
Wondering where the lone black kid came from
My parents signed me up for winter sports camp
A sensible remedy for my adolescent angst
The guy behind the locker room desk
Stuck his hand in my shorts
The fetid stench of sweat
Agressive masculine maneuvers
Hips bumping high five skin slapping
The swoosh of the day's final three-point shot
26FEB21
Hope
A glimmer of sunlight is all it takes to foster hope
Every ray of glowing radiant light beams elation
Blades of verdant grass burst from cool dewy soil
Stalks wave buttery buds in the gentle morning air
You arrived with your hippy bag and bare feet
Fuchsia-painted nails and patchouli scented skin
Long brown flowing hair shimmering silken sparks
Fleshy red lips plump like succulent summer berries
We sat beneath a beautiful tree as dusk drew near
You took me by the hand and revealed your dream
Your eyes grew wide as you spoke about the river
How it flowed so gently beside the house on the hill
Then a vision came to me of you floating in the air
Soaring above the meadow under deep blue skies
I finally understood what it meant to truly love you
In the fleeting instant between hope and providence
25FEB21
A Few Extra Pounds
I was listening to Julie Holland
Talking about Ecstasy and PTSD
How the global pandemic was
Stifling our emotional wellbeing
I was drowning myself in the bath
Like I do almost every single night
Washing away the anxiety and mire
Holding my breath under soapy water
I was thinking about a few extra pounds
The ones gathering around my middle
Hampering my tying shoelaces and such
Making my breathing a bit more labored
I was letting it get to me in so many ways
Manifesting maladies, begetting contempt
I've simply removed the battery from the scale
Contemplating sunny skies and better days ahead
24FEB21
In These Times
Living in a global pandemic
Times of war and strife
Or natural disasters
All part of life
In these times
Certainties are few
The only true constant
The constant truth of you
We're told what to think
And told what to feel
Times are confusing
Bluntly surreal
But you're here
Appeasing the fray
Making life bearable
Turning dark nights into day
23FEB21
Early to Rise
My grandparents never learned how to drive
Depended their whole lives on the kindness of others
Trips to the supermarket, the beauty parlor, doctor visits
A cross-country trip with grandpa to deliver Lill Stein's car
At times I felt my mother's burden having stayed behind
She could have followed in her sister's footsteps out west
I often think about how different our lives might have been
But she stayed back in Chicago, the ever-faithful daughter
I got my license at 16, happy to drive them here and there
Grandmother wasn't keen getting into my 1970 Camaro
The heavy doors too low to the ground and bucket seats
But Bernie and me we lit up the town in my sporty ride
That winter in Florida remains a most cherished memory
Driving my grandparents around to visit their old friends
Last night in Miami I got to choose a hotel on the beach
Early to rise to witness the most tender thing I'd ever seen
22FEB21
Placid Water Ripples
How I wish I could teach my restless mind a thing or two
To slow down and evanesce like placid water ripples
Move from thought to thought with a calming ease
Sway gently like a sapling dancing with the wind
But the sun doesn't cast away the storm clouds
It only dries the rain that has fallen from within
Lightning illuminates the skies for but an instant
Thunder roars but quickly gives way to silence
There was a tree there at Indian Boundary Park
We would sit on either side of its majestic trunk
Taking turns singing lyrics of our favorite songs
Laughing at forgotten lines and made up words
Those are the bygone days I long for the most
Innocence and the glorious wonder of our youth
The warmth of your hands and soft tender kisses
Soothing my unease and making life worth living
21FEB21
The Cusp of Spring
The air was different today, fresh, clean and pure
The sky a different blue, clouds wispy and white
Sunshine warming, welcoming, radiant and bright
A yellow butterfly flew merrily along the canal bank
I taught my youngest daughter how to ride her bicycle
Truth is she really learned how to do it all by herself
I simply coached her along while snapping photos
Told her it would take three hours, she did it in one
My other two girls sat on a blanket at the water's edge
Another daughter on FaceTime from her home in Spain
The cusp of spring brings such joy and immense delight
Brings hope of a season of rebirth and new possibilities
All seemed well with the world for those fleeting moments
Until I came to recall all that was missing and longed for
People and places that no longer remembered my name
Those who faded away into a metamorphosis of time
20FEB21
The Home We Made
I met the new neighbors this afternoon
A young couple starting out on their own
Leaving the nest and security of their father's house
Taking the plunge of cohabitation and mortgage payments
I remember our first house on calle Pintor Ricardo Verde
You'd been walking the dog early on Sunday morning
Saw the woman hanging the for sale sign in the window
Asked her kindly to take it down you'd buy it sight unseen
We spent the next few months making our new home
Gutting the place from floor to ceiling nothing untouched
Every detail executed with meticulous care and calculation
Tile, woodwork, windows, doors, paint and cupboards
I wonder if you remember our first night in that house
Having dinner with our children outside on the terrace
The Mediterranean gently breathing her wispy winds
Lulling us to sleep in the serenity of the home we made
19FEB21
Beauty Operators
My grandmother went to a beauty parlor
Every Saturday morning at eleven o'clock
After making me fried matzoh for breakfast
And cleaning the house from top to bottom
The owners were two sisters, Helen and Sophie
Cheery slender mustardy blonde-haired women
Who grandma referred to as beauty operators
I never remembered which woman was which
One of the sisters lived on California near Foster
We'd occasionally go to her house for some reason
Perhaps to drop something off or pick something up
Either way I'd always get a lollypop or a Baby Ruth
She would take the 84 bus down Peterson Avenue
Mom would pick her up in her red Volare at one
Then lunch at What's Cooking in Lincoln Village
My Saturday child's life cabbage soup adventure
18FEB21
Arriving Departures
It seems I'm always coming and going
Life as an always changing adventure
Never-ending arrivals and departures
Roads leading nowhere and everywhere
I've packed my bag a hundred times
Walked alone in the Paris summer rain
Skimmed stones on the shore of the Mersey
Drowned my sorrows in the river bank park
There were moments of fear and others of joy
The sound of the brook beneath the old mill house
Your grandmother's preserves aging on dusty shelves
The soft afternoon breeze caressing me to sleep
How I long to bask in your radiant warmth
Sit in the shade of the ficus trees in La Glorieta
Taste the lingering sweetness of fruits of the vine
Travel to the ends of the world in one deep breath
17FEB21
Birds of a Feather
It was nice to hear your voice again
Familiar like the sound of falling rain
You called to ask a particular favor
To write to your boyfriend in Spain
Some guy you think you're in love with
Who knows about our monthlong fling
It happened so very many years ago
Funny that he thinks we're still a thing
If I understood your request correctly
You wanted me set the record straight
That nothing romantic between us
Has occurred since before 2008
Starting to write what you asked me to write
I began conjuring up a thought in my head
Seeing how birds of a feather flock together
I decided to fall in love with you again instead
16FEB21
Safe Harbor
There were moments of overwhelming joy
When for the first time in my life I felt at peace
Where what surrounded me were more than walls
A safe harbor and a home I could finally call my own
Then came the thunderclouds and angry tempest
Blew the walls down to their very foundation
When the storm passed and the sun shone anew
Nothing remained but stillness and shadows
I sat on tree stump looking out over the horizon
Wondering where the storm would touch down next
All I heard was my heart beating in the silence
Though too softly to convince me I was still alive
With no signs of life no sea birds or dolphins
My skin burning in the sun's unforgiving rays
I saw you wading in the shallow foamy water
Calling out to me as the tide swept you out to sea
15FEB21
North Bissell Street
I was only half serious inviting you to Chicago
Not believing you'd come or stay a lifetime
You arrived on the day of your 24th birthday
On a bitter cold and blustery winter's evening
We drove from the airport to a cozy restaurant
You were discomfited that I sent back your soup
I convinced you that complaining wasn't unseemly
You smiled taking my hand with a trusting squeeze
We arrived at my studio on North Bissell Street
Gifts awaiting you in each of your dresser drawers
The eggplant knit jumper I spent too much money on
The bell-bottom jeans I knew you'd simply adore
And that is how our thirteen-year journey began
With love and promise, innocence and hopefulness
Mornings at my grandmother's old kitchen table
Sipping tea and making plans for the future
14FEB21
La Rosa Negra
Your rejection was poignant and pernicious
Your motives sound and unambiguous
But that didn't change how I felt about you
Only how I came to feel about myself
You became an apparition, my illusive muse
I would spend years painting your image
Writing songs and psalms to your beauty
Falling madly in love with the you I created
I would talk to you at the breakfast table
Every succulent berry an imagined kiss
I sat alone in the shade of a Hawthorn tree
Accompanied by your shadow and shame
In my dreams we drive down ocean highways
Build a quaint bungalow in Coldwater Canyon
Bask in the light of what should have always been
But what the dying black rose would never allow to be
13FEB21
The Cloister
A young girl approached me in the cloister
Tapped me on my shoulder, tugged at my sleeve
I bent over and she whispered softly in my ear
Kneeling beside her I took a coin from my pocket
She looked at the shiny piece in my hand
Tears welling up in her benevolent green eyes
She gently closed my fingers concealing the coin
Turned and slowly walked into the distance
I laid in my bed that night thinking of her
Unable to recall the words she spoke
Wondering if I had done the right thing
Playing the scene over and over in my mind
Then I remembered a day from my youth
One I have thought of often through the years
It was Rachel running toward me in a field
Her pale blue party dress ruffled by the wind
12FEB21
The Impending Thaw
I sat in my southernly window today
Knees pressed firm against the radiator
Eyes closed tightly in warm rays of sun
Lost for a moment in Miami Beach fantasies
We spoke about our past and Midwestern roots
Interdisciplinarians as you so correctly put it
Hodgepodge people misplaced and displaced
Content with the worlds we created for ourselves
We only met but once, but once is all it takes
To be infected by another's exuberance and zeal
Find the middle ground in which to plant a seed
Nourished by the spring's impending thaw
Voices in the airwaves reveal a certain clarity
Resonance and inflection unveil the essence of truth
Gentle ripples jutting out from beneath a frozen lake
The only cold we feel are frozen memories of the past
11FEB21
On the Surface of My Mind
I won't be writing to you again
But there is so much I have to say
Words I'll simply keep to myself
Remaining forever and a day
I've kept a secret photo of you
In a shoebox under my bed
Buried beneath dried daffodil petals
That should have been daisies instead
But flowers could never replace you
Your beauty, your fragrance divine
Taciturn grace and elegance true
Dwell on the surface of my mind
There on the cold tundra of love
Where nothing grows or dies
Frozen sand and empty shells
Reveal faithlessness and lies
10FEB21
The Grind
There is much work to be done
Global workforce pins on a map
Charts to be read reports to be written
Outgoing incoming payables receivables
Cordialities at the coffee machine
Black white sugar saccharine
Dip a biscuit smoke a cigarette
Clock in clock out lunchtime baguette
Back at the grind 40-hour bind
Put on hold try the other line
Following leads out in the field
Sign on the line shake on the deal
Color-coded folders piled on the desk
Coffee-stained ledgers and Post-it Notes
The sticky keyboard and broken mouse
Happy hour at Coconuts the day is done
09FEB21
Drifting
Contrasts of dusty grey and murky white
Spine-chilling cold and frozen wet feet
Shards of icicle tears stuck to your lashes
Steamy breath billowing from our mouths
You convinced me to sit with you in the snow
We sat on your backpack huddled up close
Momentary rays of sun warming our faces
Your bright glowing smile melting my heart
We walked along the shore until sunset
Returned to the cottage and stoked the fire
Shared a blanket while drinking hot coffee
Drifted off while listening to Fire and Rain
You woke me with a caress and a soft gentle kiss
Handed me a bowl of Kraft macaroni and cheese
Said you'd been saving it for a special moment
Like the one when you fell hopelessly in love
08FEB21
California & Granville
Street gangs were a big thing back then
Popes, Gaylords, Latin Kings and Vice Lords
Feared, glorified, misunderstood and marginalized
Territory claimed, dominance proclaimed, men inflamed
I woke up early one summer Saturday morning
Walked over to the Jewel to buy some Ding Dongs
Quietly slipped through the Dorontich's gangway
Threw a stone through those old broken windows
There were peculiar sounds drifting in heavy air
A humid din of low-pitched murmurs and whispers
Peaking my head around the corner of the parking lot
100 black men in white dago tees and black top hats
Standing there frozen in the moment, numb and afraid
My thumbs locking under my palms as fear took hold
A hand touched my shoulder, a voice softly spoke
Telling me to slowly turn around and just go home
07FEB21
Nancy
I suppose it wouldn't have been so surprising
Discovering you'd been wearing a wig all along
Had it not been for the exploits of our first date
Parked along Mullhullond Drive in my yellow MG
I picked you up at the Safeway on Ventura Blvd.
I'd never seen you in everyday clothes before
You were leaning up against a shopping cart rack
Spitting sunflower seed shells into a paper bag
We drove to Thai Cottage in Studio City
Molly and Dweezil sitting at their usual table
I wondered if you only accepted my invitation
To see if I was really telling the truth about them
Our story was fleeting, replete with carefree desire
It wasn't our fault the Great Dane was hit by a car
All we did was take an innocent evening stroll
Talking about what a future together might be like
06FEB21
Disparity
I've grown accustomed to many things in life
Living from hand to mouth, wanting more than I need
Giving more than I should, getting back even less
Loving unconditionally, suffering alone in my despair
They say self-pity is an unbecoming trait
But so much more tolerable than self-loathing
I wouldn't trade places with anyone in the world
I have learned to live so exquisitely in my own skin
I drove a 911 once barefoot just like David did
Promised myself I'd buy one of my own someday
Drove down PCH, her fingers running through my hair
She swore she'd never forget me and love me forever
But I moved away and she married another man
One with a real job, a house and purposeful life
And I travelled the world and made little of things
Never quite understanding the disparity of providence
05FEB21
Topsy-Turvy
Sometimes life looks upside down
Feels as if everything is topsy-turvy
Up is down and down is up
Left is right and right is wrong
There was a time once, long ago
When we only spoke with our eyes
The truth was better left unspoken
What we desired, inconceivable
I jumped on the Eisenhower
Rode the I-88 west to DeKalb
New Frye cowboy boots killing me
It seemed like a good idea at the time
You were so happy to see me
Show me off to your new friends
Taking only what you needed
I can't recall ever going home
04FEB21
Rod Carew
I've told my fair share of tall tales
Never sure anymore which ones are true
Or simply blur the lines between fact and fiction
Embellished anecdotes from an unconventional life
Perhaps they're true because I really lived them
You're bound to run into a movie star in L.A.
That is, after all, where they make their home
Where I made mine, all those years ago
I ate pastrami sandwiches with Johnny and Lori
Looked up Justine's skirt as she tried on pumps
Played my tape to Cornelius as he sat on my couch
Told Hillel the babe on keyboards was my girlfriend
Of all the stories and wild escapades that I recall
The one about Rod Carew always comes to mind
Invited me into his home; to a game and dinner
Almost died laughing as I took a puff of his cigar
03FEB21
Grandfathers
I can better conjure up their faces
As I saw them through the viewfinder
Or in cracked black and white photos
In yellowing albums behind faded plastic
Zayde reading the Forverts on a lawn chair
Papa Art standing beside his '52 Styleline
Bernie in a wide-lapeled sport jacket
Ted with bright white hair and a bolo tie
All that remains is an old nicked ram's horn
Unkept promises of fishing on the lake
A drawerful of badly typed letters
The memory of our only handshake
These were the grandfathers of my youth
Some of them blood, while others were not
Men among men, almost larger than life
A momentary presence of everlasting truth
02FEB21
Madrid 1987
My first intercontinental flight
Early Sunday morning arrival
The airport is completely empty
A lone civil guard paces about
I find a public phone but have no coins
The exchange bureau closed until eight
So I take a seat and wait patiently
Contemplating what lies ahead of me
Coins in hand I return to the phone
But there's no slot to insert them in
No slit to slip in a credit card
Instructions in a foreign tongue
So I sit on the floor against a wall
Waiting for someone to come along
Observe just how they use the phone
Mimic their actions and make my call
01FEB21
When One Door Closes
I had a vision of you last night
In an early morning dream
I dare not ponder too deeply
Its meaning or implications
We were in the old three-story
You wore a tattered light-blue robe
Your hair wet and tangled from the storm
Tears running down your hollow cheeks
Restraining your rage while scolding me harshly
Unfounded accusations of infidelity and betrayal
But I knew the real truth behind the spectacle
Your repugnance at marrying a man of my age
There was an old suitcase beneath the bed
Musty and yellow-stained reeking of the past
I packed my things as you stood looking on
You took off your robe and closed the door