All my heeds and warnings
You used just like an instruction manual
Never again will I show a young man the red button
DO NOT TOUCH! DO NOT TOUCH!
Never again will I show a young man
Category: Poetry
See How That Works?
Take all my love
and give it to somebody else
Be sure and wrap it
with a pretty new bow
Conceal that it
has been tampered with
Sell it like a special
cause you know it’ll go bad soon
Use all the things I taught you
That you never knew
Look at her the way
I asked you to
Remember to call her beautiful
even if she’s not
Remember to compliment, a lot
Yes romance matters
Yes money does too,
sometimes, a little
Take all my love
and give it to somebody else
See how that works?
How Does It Last?
Love is
for friends
and grandmothers
and K-9’s,
kitty cats,
and brothers
Love is not
for sex and
lovers.
To The Man in the Cheese Aisle
What do
you say we
get out of here?
Let’s take this
side-glance and
run with it
We’ll go beyond
the city limits,
as far west and
north as we can go
Chasing that
idyllic place,
that feeling
Circle each
other in the sand,
Swim the first
swim of summer
in a warm creek
by the beach
as the sun
winks the day
goodbye
We will dine
on mussels
and wine
and kiss
a salty kiss
on the street
Sand in
our shoes,
Strangers upon
first glance, but
past life lovers
perhaps
Your mouth,
your teeth,
drive me
to flee
Big Red Sky
Instead of the moon
there’s a big red sky
Where there was mystery
There is nothing to hide
Who brought me to town,
was it you?
I’m forever asking
the sky for the
truth
Spring Back to Life
He shoves me down
with his words and truth
which only provides
the opportune moment
to Spring Back to Life!
Watch me karate
chop my problems
Hear me wail
and then
go silent
The Body Does Not Lie
My mind’s eye
is up-in-arms
over this leg
of the journey
She wants to
move ahead already
and foot the bill for
a place in the country
No longer can
she stomach town
Rocks
Days off
these days
are for
chores and
reflection and
gathering crystals
in my palms and
toes and
begging them
to take away
the angst
Fantasy
I am a lover
in dreams
a wife
later on
a mother
hypothetically
an idea
forever
always
always
always
available to
be a girlfriend
good for a
flatter
a flirt
when I’m not
being a brick wall
I am of my own creation
You reap just what you sew
I am a fantasy
good for only
brief periods
of a man’s day
outliving the
otherwoman’s
demands
I live
in the space
before sleeping
in the stolen time
after dinner when
your wife
is cleaning up
I live in your
dusty roads
lined with roses
and sunset light
I am an idea
an adventure
I show up
on mountain-tops
when you’ve fallen
behind the group
and feel
that someone’s
there with you,
that’s me
You think,
I know who
would like this place
You give me that.
Off-Track III
Days off
these days
are for
carefully scanning
my body for signs
of life
desperately scanning
my mind
unraveling
the truth
of my friends
crying to the
moon for help
having a hard time
holding my head
up high
folding in,
caving in
to the noodles
of blankets on
my bed
letting go
watching
my hopes
take flight
like a
balloon
in the
wind
TERAH RACHELLE VAN DUSEN 