Once Upon a Time Poems

Dandelion Seeds

She got a big lift from outdoors,
whacking the silk off dandelions,
beating out the tips in play,
wishing for tall gladioli
instead.

A passionate turning point
for her day,
tempered with fragrances divine,
lavender and honeysuckle
spiraling a fervent vine.
Need not blush
the sun,
pouring its hoarded gold,
a mountain slicing the sunset
out of jealousy . . .
What dynamic vision!
Priceless stuff.

She was afraid
this beauty would be scraped off soon,
since in her little life,
when she was five,
her mother had said
she had been a mistake.
She got scared
of being erased.

Whispered secrets,
fatigued with the same refrain,
fragile feelings
in an unfolding age,
a river flowing dark
like a sliver of chocolate,
sweetness melting inside the sounds
of weeping at bedtime.

Dandelion seeds,
fleeting at dusk,
with vast possibilities,
chaste at birth,
ephemeral,
mortal,
no mistake,
as people come and go.