Doughnut Lady

Your fingers touched mine
in the exchange: such sweet things
from those small rough hands.

Wishes 1¢

Opportunities
like this come rarely: pick up
those pennies and wish.

Summer

Unseasonable
heat sets the city aflame--
sirens paint my dreams.

Proposition 8

My equality
in the hands of my neighbors--
ashes on my tongue.

Christmas vacation
seems less like a holiday
when mandatory.

Spam Squared

Undeliverable:
Auto-reply: Your
email was received.

A rally for what?
An embarrassment for whom?
San Francisco's torch.

I fell in love with
a GAP mannequin today--
his t-shirt, so tight.

Decay

In the space between
seconds, we are beautiful,
even in decay.

Amy's Organic Bowls

A bug in the bowl
may surprise you during lunch--
no fear: it's organic.

The indentation
of your pillow on my face
fades to memory.

Without you, I am
either a hermit or whore.
You choose--or come home.

Hillary

A woman reviled--
the very definition;
President to some.

I hesitated
to take your hand into mine;
winter gusts, cold and grey.

Trying to stifle
my cough on the train brought tears
to my eyes today.

Swaddled in sheets and
blankets, my nocturnal home,
I am loath to leave.

Bumbershoot

Wanting to dance with
my umbrella, the wind gave
me a gentle push.

My ambivalence
trumps your suffering because
I care less than you.

Damp mischief afoot
outside persuades me to eat
alone at my desk.

Chatting about books
with you on the train, I wrote
poems with your smile.

The blood in my veins
reached superfluidity
when you said goodbye.

Grey February
skies cast sad silver shadows
and you are not here.

For Kim

With three hands, she thought,
my burdens would finally
be manageable.

January blue
unfurls across the city.
Do you see my breath?

Foggy morning

The fog-wrapped Bay Bridge
stretches silently eastward,
glancing, once, my way.

Why do the homeless
in my neighborhood sleep while
wearing just one shoe?

January 14, 2008

With thirty-eight years
under my hat, should I know
something about life?