Equilibrium

There are times in life

when you realize

that you were "supposed to" have failed --

but you didn't,

that you were to "supposed to" have crumpled --

but you wouldn't ...

because you have

your own vessel to sail,

and survival demands

that you never help others

rock your own boat.

Once Somebody's Daughter

She has loved me, for the last two-thirds of my life,
in a different way,
which I'm supposed to understand --
but which I don't.
I must be missing a portion of the script.
When she left him,
it went from "what was" in all its rich detail
to a sassy present moment
devoid of the past that included me.
It broke my brain
to have been loved with respect and devotion,
only to become like a forgotten knick-knack.
A shock it's been, every time,
to be addressed, upon the slightest whim,

casually, carelessly, angrily, coyly,
as though to a mistrusted peer.

Counterpoint

A little hippie in me
and a lotta' tomboy
left over, inside,
from yesteryear.
Ain't plannin' on
givin' 'em up --
they're my backbone,
my grit,
my shimmer,
my color --
manly certainty
of my femininity;
they're the earth beneath my feet,
the flowers that bow in the rain,
feast of tones and shades,
nerve and gall.
I will stand my ground,
stomp my feet,
shake my hair,
clank some bracelets,
and howl into the wind
whenever survival
calls.