AT BAT

All resting on Lefty, a pair of shoulders
He steps up to the plate
Here's the pitch
Change up - outside
One and oh.

Hot glare of the sun
Outfield shadowing left
Fast ball down the middle
Strike called
One and one

Lefty crowds the plate
High and outside
Really chased that one
The call is one and two

Attendance good
Heat considered and reconsidered
Some runs, bats, errors

Fast ball inside corner
A swing and up it goes
Up and up and up
It's outta' here
Tell it goodbye

Cheers for Lefty, pair of shoulders
Doffs his hat on the way home

The loneliest teamwork

For Win

smile joyful

search honorable

intelligence undeniable

heart pure

pulse strong

independently independent

adventurously adventurous

Buddhistly religious

middlely pathed

peaceably at peace

sincerely sincere

lovingly loved

mightily missed

Opening Flower

Like a summer flower

 Her smile is a gift

She can bring joy by thought alone

Watch your heart

Her laughter at class time is a thing to behold

Bold, funny, endearing and searing

A ringing of bells

A knowing of secrets

Her sweetness can smooth hurts

Ask her of mystery

Ask of love

From an ancient land to a foggy sky

My dear Ozlem

My friend

Thinking of you I pray

For your journey, life, safety, loves

Blessings friend

As your heart unfolds like an opening flower

Kevin Watkins © 2010

A poem for Ozlem on the occasion of her engagement – San Francisco, California – October 2010.

POP

POP UPS
POP TOPS
I'LL JUST POP IN
SODA POP
POP GOES THE WEASEL
POP'IN FRESH DOUGH
POP-UP BOOKS
POP TOPS
THE BOSTON POPS
POPPY FIELDS
POPPY SEED MUFFINS
POP OFF AT THE MOUTH
POP A PIMPLE
POP YOU ONE
POP A CORK
POPCORN
POP MUSIC
POP TARTS
POPULAR MECHANICS
POPA SMRUF
POP ROCKS
POPULARITY
POP THE QUESTION
POP A PILL
BOMB POPS
POPS

The Most Holistic Way

she was dressed all in leather
she was spiked from head to toe
she'd got on the bus and started to cuss
and boy did that bus driver go

her chains did more than jingle
her spurs did more than clink
she looked like an escapee from a nut - house hotel
I assume she was the head shrink

more piercings than st. sebastian
more needles than a sewing queen
she was looking for an acupuncturist
to prick about her spleen

it's the most holistic way she plead
as her spikes poked out my eyes
i hope they don't mess up my hair she said
if they do i know someone dies

TEN KINDS OF SADNESS

There are ten different kinds of sadness

They start out at a one with such things

As hang nails or paper cuts

Perhaps the bus was late or too crowded

Perhaps it was your hair

These are the fleeting sadnesses soon to be forgotten

Number two kinds of sadness involve the loss of something

But only temporarily

You can’t find the keys

You can’t find the remote

You don’t remember where you’ve sat your glasses

Number two kinds of sadness make you move

They make you worry slightly

But it almost always has a happy ending

In just a few moments all is resolved

We first encounter the third kind of sadness as children

When we have lost something of fleeting value

Ice cream falling off of summer cones

The favored baseball card lost in some child’s game of chance

Lightening bugs escaping your sweaty hand and the killing jar

The higher numbers of sadness

The sixes and sevens

Are for losses of greater magnitude

A limb lost in battle

A mind lost to war

A home lost to a nameless corporation

A loved one lost to a drunken driver

Things still held oh so very dear

Gone and forever

I would tell you of the numbers nine and ten kinds of sadness

But my soul can not bare such today

Not while the sun still shines

In truth, I am afraid

I’m afraid your hearts would break open wide

I’m afraid you would never forgive

untended lemon tree

small beautiful green nuts growing into sour teenagers

if left unmolested they will grow into fullness

nearing their peak they will mature into an ever sweating nectar

if they get to hang around long enough

they will be perfect for a favorite chicken recipe

or to have as a refinement for caviar

or to properly flavor some sophisticated cocktail du jour

towards the very end

just before the fading

deserts and custards to be shared

or a sacred digestive

if you get to hang around a long time

like the lemons on an untended lemon tree

it will be grand

simply grand

all the while

locked in our bones

is the certain knowledge
like these glorious lemons

we too

one day far too soon

shall succumb to gravity