Clock 

The clock in the kitchen

was always five minutes fast,

an imagined buffer to fool us into
believing we were ahead of schedule.

But we weren’t ahead, not really,

for the moment we looked up
and said those inevitable words,
“we have five more minutes,”
we invariably set ourselves up
to be late for whatever event
lurked just around the corner.

I thought it was normal to live this way,

until I spent the weekend at a friend’s home,
and the family was preparing to watch
their favorite evening program.

I instinctively looked up

at the kitchen clock ticking away
like a ceramic time bomb,
and reflexively said, “five more minutes.” 

My friend just stared, and continued

to wonder why I was always late.




                      ~~~

First published in Shadow Poetry / February 2008

Shadows Ink Poetry Contest Fall 2007 / 13th Place

"Bemused"

Bemused

 

 

 

A few moments ago, as the winter wind

whistled past the window,

 

I had the sensation an instant

became trapped in the glass.

 

A moment in time, stuck in the pane,

never to age, never to move forward,

 

and never to retreat to a quieter, simpler breeze.

Stuck forever, in the blissful melancholy

 

of a library window of an aspiring poet,

bemused for something to say. 

 

 

 

 

~~~~~

 

 

 

 

 

An earlier version of this poem was first published in Writers' Journal / August 2006

This version published in Shadow Poetry / October 2006

Also published in The Funny Paper / November 2006

A modified version published in Northern Stars Magazine / April 2014

Fragility 

 

How anything

is true
is so very fragile…
a moment of belief 
dangling over
a pool of uncertainty,
aided by
one careless qualm,
and the true
becomes
the fallen,
lost and drowning
beneath
the polished black
surface of doubt
and suspicion. 
 
 
 
 
      ~~~

 

First published in print in Shadow Poetry / February 2007

First published online in Miller's Pond Poetry Magazine

http://www.millerspondpoetry.com/index.php/issues/index.php?page=vol-17-web1#Cristine
January 04, 2014