time laughed at the sleep
presented in final hours
examined my fingers
still strong, callused and searching

the still night air,
and a smallish voice
reminded me of aging.
of what is unfinished

across the room
roses fade metaphorically
fleeting, mocking
in a lifespan moment

one hundred and seven years
was whispered in my dream
a farmer tilling diligently
as roots slurped love’s muddy soil

the nuzzling nose
of a neighbor’s pet
unlocks your heart
releasing you from fear’s leash

hope loves you madly
from deep within the green glint
in which you view
this world of possibility

age flies from your frame
on brown and white angora wings
you are nine years old
and I am the same.

© Tom Watters 5/30/08

born onto this touchstone
my path, conch-shaped
spirals begin infinitesimally small
expanding only with growth

father never taught me
to shave
or to walk like a man.
life simply arrives
in blood
in the grinding of gears

lessons of fog
art and commerce
man and woman
what was all,
almighty

every brisk second
consists of countless events
instructive in their balance
vivid and fleeting.

the opening of the eyes

I pull on the clothes
of a good man.
envisioning that treatment

and the cool breeze of
what will be
on the outer coils.

© Tom Watters 5/28/08

I seek ablution in the coffee shop.

weathered with the patina of use,
this black orb tells all.
murky blue water with rejoinder:
“don’t count on it”

wash me in the water

distracted by the dragonfly
lavishly detailed on her breasts,
I gaze at my shoelaces, untied.
she reminds me “it’s always right”

temporary as the dew

walking away with my obligations,
I laugh at the simplicity of the morning.
grasp my keys with creative fingertips
and scratch through sexed hair

tears are never descriptive enough, apparently

windshield wipers swipe the morning off
I clear my throat of debris and pride.
your scent invades my car, my fingers
are the incense of musky distrust.

at least there was no soggy parking ticket.

© Tom Watters 5/7/08

it was reported lightly.
sympathetic,
doe-eyed fawning.

this was the shit
you couldn’t stand

mortality
was not
news you expected.
you had to mask your
indifference with
a furrowed brow;
“I know”
“I just heard… jeez”

truth be told,
life left months ago
when you sucked
those bones dry

you reckon

of course
he offered them up
like barbeque.
you gave at an early age,
now you take

because they’re stupid,
and you are owed.

this unquenched debt

© Tom Watters 4/9/08