The Nutcracker’s Lost Denouement

...and then,
Klara woke up.
Ten years later, she wed
some Mouse King of a bureaucrat.
The End.

Adelaide by Turns

Two beats,
followed by four:
this is the rule, you see.
Six must be next, then eight, then two
to close.

But what if one
were to rotate the lines?
Would Adelaide rise from her rest
to shout,
"Stop that!" ...?

Or would she slumber on,
dead—as it were—to this shifting
of form
(though based
still upon fives)?

A purist might, of course, object
to that
which would
subvert the law
of two, four, six, eight, two.

I mean
no harm
to the cinquain;
I only wish to see
how it rights itself when upset.

Two beats,
four, six, eight, two—
yes, all is right again.
Sleep well, Adelaide; your rule has
survived.

Meditation

What is
the sound of one
left hand, bending six strings?
A dark wail of enlightenment,
blue bliss...

September 12

Fariz—
a peaceful man—
gave me this kaffiyeh,
which I do not dare wear outside
today.

Disquiet

Turn left;
there I am. No,
wait. That's a reflection.
I'm here, around the next corner.
Turn left.

Turn right.
Oops, you just missed
my disappearing act—
or was that really me you saw?
Turn right.

Come on,
not much farther.
I'm right inside this door—
so why are you afraid to knock?
Come on.

Turn back;
I seem to have
crept around behind you
(at least, those sound like my footsteps).
Turn back.

Stand still.
Just listen, and
you will hear my breathing—
or maybe that's only the wind.
Stand still...