my life in places where I've woken up

[South Balboa Drive]
Morning has passed my sleepy face
As the warm place on my chest starts to purr
I better not get up just yet
Lest I awaken this gentle bundle of fur.


[Lake Galilee Road]
My eyes creep open at sunlight.
Another misty, hazy dawn breaks on the lake.
Looking through the dirty glass
A peaceful moment, while no one is awake.


[Great Portland Street]
Body awakes but the mind still sleeps
From honking horns beyond the apple tree limbs.
New day walking the crescents, mews
Chasing my every wanderlust, traveler whims.


[Union Street]
He always wakes up before me
I lie under the quilts and watch the curtain flow.
Streams of light feed the plants
And I feel warmth here in spite of the snow.

[28th Street]
I hear people shouting in the street
But it’s still a quiet start for a Manhattan day
I count the bricks on the wall
A home of love and dreams, but underpay.

13 Ways to Look at a Button

I.
Among the leather of coats
A button
Holds it all together

II.
Alone
The only one who sees me
is a button
the eye of a rag doll.

III.
Napoleon’s Army
Lost to the Russian cold
Their tin buttons disintegrating

IV.
Resting on the dirty ground
A lost button
With a frayed thread

V.
In my pocket
I mistake a button for a coin

VI.
The only thing left to remind her of him
is a button
from his favorite dress shirt.
She cries.

VII.
Late last summer he fell in love
With her sun kissed button nose

VIII.
Answers linger beyond the door.
Locked.
The impermeable code of buttons.

IX.
On or Off
A heavy choice
Made so often by buttons

X.
O, citizens of earth
Loathing and fanaticism
The end of the world
Is just a button press away.

XI.
A small treasure
A child finds a misplaced
Button.

XII.
The wind whispers “shh.”
Somewhere
A button fails.

XIII.
It was early morning
And no one has ever sung
A song for buttons.