Short Poems for Halloween

 

Poem for Little One’s First Halloween

Warm, fleecy unicorn

watches trick-or-treaters

and her silver horn

in the dark window.

Playing with Papa,

admiring Grammy’s light-up earrings,

waiting for her cousins.

Next year, she’ll walk with them,

taller, faster, in a new guise.

*

Haiku for an Empty Candy Bowl on the Porch upon Returning Home

We were not home, but

left candy out, knowing that

one child might take all.

*

Haiku from my Dog on Halloween Night

Too loud, too many–woof!

Or let me out to play–woof!

I’ll run wild, like you!

Poem for My Dog, Whose Tastes Are Evolving

My dog has grown to like

having his ears cleaned.

He leans into it,

willing the wax and grime away.

Good dog.

He shakes his head, satisfied.

Poem: At Least Someone’s Having Fun…

Building momentum, we dig in

with metal shovels scraping

and the wind blowing gentle snow

back in our faces as ice.

*

The dog surges into a snow bank,

and then approaches,

tail wagging.

He samples snow

from several sections of the yard.

Tail wagging,

he pees

on the walls of the tunnel

we’re attempting to create

from house to driveway.

*

We work, pausing

to breathe, pace ourselves

before the weight and the

bending down and hauling up

resumes.

*
He checks on us, counts us:

one…two…

one…two.

He paws at a shovel,

tail wagging.

Three Haikus for Snow on Thanksgiving Morning

Night pulls away, and snow

glows in fresh light on the porch.

The dog licks a patch, descends,

* * *

makes footprints circle

in the yard, revealing green.

He pauses, looks back, sniffs.

* * *

Inside, the kitchen

is already filled with warmth

and sizzling scents.

Poem for Cleaning My Dog’s Ears

“Thrashing beast, don’t you

know that we are trying to

help you?  Hold still!  Stop!”

*

“No!  I close my ears

against that foul liquid and

I don’t hear you!  No!

*

Rebel!  Rebel!  Flee!

I will scratch the problem out,

if you’ll just let me!

*

Oh, it’s fine now.  Yes–

I don’t much mind the rubbing–

Finished?  OK.  Thanks!”

*

“Next time, will you be

good, sit still, submit, help us?

We do this for you!”

*

“I’d like a treat now.

I’ll go get my ball.  Wait here.

Here it is!  Here….What?”

Haiku for My Tired Dog, Home after Doggy Daycare

Loved dog home again,

Lying on the hard wood floor,

Satisfied, peaceful.

 

The Itch

It’s been an interesting week.  My husband and I were just talking about our lives over lunch, and how busy we’ve been, and how we keep saying “We’ll feel less busy when…” but then we never seem to feel less busy.  I’m going to attend the Writer’s Digest Conference next weekend in NYC, and I’ve been writing, editing, and prepping.  My husband is studying to take the bar in two different states.  I also have professional development for my teaching job next week and will be spending the week sleeping in a college dorm room and I will leave directly from there to go to NYC.  These are all good things, but they do add up to busy.

Another challenge of the past few days has been an allergic reaction I’ve had to something (I really don’t know what!), causing me to break out in an itchy rash.  As I’ve been avoiding scratching with cold compresses, cold showers and Benadryl,  I’ve also been trying to get some stuff done.  I think the Benadryl, in addition to making me feel drowsy and spacey, also had a hand in a VERY odd dream I had last night.  This was the weirdest dream I’ve had in some time…I may have to think further on that–is an empty bedroom full of cockroaches symbolic of something?  and a stained coffee table?  and a navy soldier who turns into a gray cat after showing up uninvited to a holiday party?

Despite the odd dream and the odd reaction (please don’t let me unknowingly expose myself to whatever it was again next week!), I have been getting some writing and reading done.  My allergic reaction is abating now, and with that I feel the renewed itch to keep writing.

I’m ready switch gears now, moving from blog to other writing.  I’m Benadryl-free and not too itchy and listening to Jewel and Sheryl Crow.  (I love So You Think You Can Dance!  Did anyone see last night’s?  It reminded me how much I love Jewel.  Every week I watch and want to become a dancer.  It would be SO cool to dance like they do!)

As I try to stay in my place of calm focus, my writing companion has no trouble feeling relaxed: he is an inspiration, isn’t he?