The Man With The Glass Eye

The man with the glass eye
possesses smooth clarity of vision.
He rolls his glass eye
to dispense balm for frail children who then recover.

Look into his glass eye.
You will see yourself split into fractals--
all the selves you are capable of being.
He greets each one
warmly, personally.

At night, he sets his eye on the nightstand
in a glass of solution.
It shimmers like a planet there, from which horoscopes might be drawn.
In the morning he replaces it and is filled with intelligent resolve.

If you meet the man with the glass eye,
do not ask what happened to his "real" eye.
It is in your head,
whispering sweetly.
_____

for Day 10 of my 39 poems in 39 days.

image: Tete d'homme barbu by Picasso.

In The Yellow Kitchen

In the yellow kitchen with the rose-colored counters
where green ivy vines surround the window,
spirits come in from indigo hours
looking for words kept in earthen jars

in the yellow kitchen with the rose-colored counters.
We keep a coffee pot of enamel
cream yellow to soothe late hour drowsers
unseen and hungry for a kiss, a ribbon, a caramel,

in the yellow kitchen with the rose-colored counters
where green ivy vines surround the window.
Mornings as easily as ghosts arrive, like spring snow
collected on sills as the May-crow appears

in the yellow kitchen with the rose-colored counters
where green ivy vines surround the window
and spirits come in from indigo hours.
There is Mucha on the walls, Parrish on a matchbook

in the yellow kitchen with the rose-colored counters
where green ivy vines surround the window,
and spirits come in from indigo hours
looking for words in earthen jars of cinnamon sticks, brown sugar, and flour.
_______

Softly and Tenderly

Softly and tenderly,

Jesus is calling

Cheryl and I sang with the others,

standing on the risers in our choir robes

like Christmas angels on a tree. 

Come home, come home,

you who are weary come home

So Cheryl came home

with me to the one-bedroom house

with the rag rugs and 

my grandparent's four-poster bed. 

It's a Kindness to each other,

something a lady understands can't be a sin;

it's a Kindness, our Mercies to each other,

and if breasts are for babies, then baby, I'm in.

See, on the portals He's waiting and watching,

watching for you and for me.

Cheryl sings it in the morning

softly, to herself

with coffee in one hand and keys in the other,

to drive the kids to school on the bus.

Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling

calling, O sinner, come home!

I'm home already, or as home as I can be 

with the cream in my coffee all the sweet that I need;

softly and tenderly...taking care of my own,

and all who are weary, Come home!

___________

just something for Rommy's goose "Virtue or Vice" at Toads.