My Morning

I prefer the blue
as morning opens the sky
as shadows declare outlines
Not white washed
by the midday heat
calling children
to dance hopscotch across
the burning cement
their bare feet calloused
with summer 

Birds wake, sing, shout
I am alive, I am ready,
all mine
and I
warble lines in the shower
croon with the teapot
turn on all the lights
just because I can
because I pay the bill

The lawn stretches
reaches to meet the sun,
I want to wear
the blade rippling dew
like diamond bangles
on my toes
dig into the very roots

I strap into my office chair
to keep from sliding to the floor
drunk on the morning

Celluloid 

Everything sounds different
in the dark
when the light’s collapsed

stillness accompanies
your melody
as you play
me in 4/4 time
words that cut
float unanchored
all Doris Day soft-focused
a camera lens
smeared with Vaseline
across my heart

Floorboards sigh as you step across the room

remember Sicily,
Motta Anastasia,
we played The Angel Wore Red
my Soledad to your priest
wounded, I protected the relic
dead, I saved you all 

Inhale, exhale
the walls resonate
the shutter speed quickens
the door catch mumbles your goodbye

everything sounds different
in the dark