folk song

from which bottle
was this transience released
this idea of companionship
fed to a confusion of pairing

which calendar of flavor
gave this mocking assessment
found us embarrassed
wearing white after labor day

whose open mouth
danced wetly, without prejudice
sang embroidered words
then formed excuses of betrayal

what wooden wheel
carts the season back
blooming again as expected
like guys and dolls do

on broadway

© Tom Watters  5/5/09

tap

these tips
shunted over wires
misdirected, these prints
miss textures
subtle, presented in atmospheres
not forgotten
denied, if not forsaken
soothing
natural
familiar

telling corners
of her smile, frown, question, joy, loss
these fingers reach
for that seen
grasp
for the things to be heard
stroke
to comprehend scents that read like novels

playing horseshoes
in the powdery snow
enjoying sentiment
and not

a clue

as to the results

© Tom Watters 2/4/09

torch

defiant traffic
my nervous circuitry
reads aloud.
the luck of black crickets
chirping for pay
in the smallest of hours

in my ambulant walk
night goes off,
safety engaged,
cautiously out of
the crosshairs of her kindness.

we never went to India,
never snaked across sheets.
laboring in the seconds
just before knowledge,
and its textbook betrayal

I dig into my pocket
fumbling to discover
a swatch of musky silk
the cool leather of a rose petal
some proof…

I find forty-eight cents.

© Tom Watters 12/2/08

caprice

I’m fine.

a forgone response to
your detached query

those two words
stated and un-listened
so many times on.
I’ve considered accents to
create interest

you know

numbness has
its own ad campaign.
arriving random days at 10 pm
in the form of spam

an e-florist of
all the times I sent
flowers

not because I did
wrong things again
I was in love.

an eve of half apple
in trouble

now I stare at the tan
of my steering wheel
in park

loose change
in certainty.

© Tom Watters 10/16/08