Kharma (No Laughing Matter)

Making my way
around school hallways
I came face-to-face
with a smallish boy
"YOU SUCK!"
flew out of his mouth
and smacked me
right in the heart.
My only crime?
I wore thick glasses.
Years later...
Kharma took his legs.
Now he knows
how it hurt.

A Shared Shelter

A circle of women
Huddled in the basement
Shivering in the dampness
Of a Tornado Warning

Fat-fluffed Robin
Blown into the window well
Huddled against the windowpane
Shivering in the driving rain

All waiting out the storm

Butterfly Wings

Bright red geraniums
In the sun room
Rescued from a 27 degree
New York night
Dropped 2 red petals
On the carpet
Clutched in a 2 year-old's fist
Next morning
A pot of butterfly wings
In a small child's imagination