Our Town

source

Meagan could still feel her Daddy's hands

touching her, she couldn't understand

Smelled the stale beer on his lips

Any place is better than this

Lives behind the Safeway with her friend

Sally used to work hard as a cook

til she threw her back out and she took

pills her doctor gave to her

Kept on needing more and more

Lost her job, her house, and still she's hooked

Lindsay locked herself inside the john

Her daughter cried and pounded for her mom

When her friends knocked down the door

Lindsay lay blue on the floor

Needle still was stuck in her left arm

Nicky always looking for a mark

Hooked up with his friend outside the park

Later on he stole his car

Didn't make it very far

Cuffs around his wrists 'fore it got dark

Camille called her mom this Sunday past

Said she needed just a little cash

Promised her she'd pay it back

Found her man and bought some smack

Father said that girl was always trash

Under every town's pretty facade

The underbelly's waiting to be prod

Take a peek, the edge is frayed

Out where the outliers strayed

Dying 'neath the gaze of a flawed god.

submitted for Imaginary Garden With Real Toads, Music: Gratitude Edition, A Walk on the Wild Side

White on White

source

Black and white

held up to the light

As I wait, biting

what's left of my nails

Black or white

Yes or no

Clean or not

Stay or go 

Black and white

but something's not right

The evil could hide

in plain sight when

there's not enough night

to contrast with the day

on the x-ray 

White on white

Cotton in snow

doesn't quite show

so how do I know?

Fifty-fifty chance

they miss a spot,

report that it's not

and then, what?

Black and white

And I sit tight

trying to fight my fears

All of these years

Being told I'm clear

but all may not be

as it appears.

Poet's Comment: I don't usually explain my poems, but this is about early breast cancer detection and it's important. Did you know that breast density influences the accuracy of a mammogram? Dense breast tissue is comprised of less fat and more glandular tissue. On a mammogram, dense tissue appears white and cancerous tumors also appear white, making it nearly impossible to "see" the tumor. While mammogram can find about 98% of cancers in women with fatty breast tissue, it finds only about 48% of cancers in women with dense breast tissue. If you have dense breasts, you may want to get an ultrasound or MRI in addition to a routine mammogram. Some states now mandate that information about breast density be included on a mammogram report. Find out. Check out this site for more info.

submitted for Imaginary Garden With Real Toads, Kerry's Wed. Challenge, Black and White

'Tis the Season

'Tis the season to be marginalized
'Cuz the Christian majority can't realize
that holidays come in more than one size
Or maybe they're not celebrated at all
Not everybody decks the halls
or hangs those colored Christmas lights
Yeah, that's my menorrah shining bright
for eight nights, oy vey!
Not all gifts come on a sleigh
Though every year, the same old scene
My eyes assaulted with red and green
as the stores roll out the Christmas machine
And what about the rest of us?
Always there to make a fuss
when we protest the nativity
in a public space for festivity
or ask for a kinara too
or a Star of David in white and blue
(isn't that just like a Jew?)
to try and make us all rephrase
"Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holidays?"
But would it really kill the mirth
to have a little peace on earth?
To acknowledge and embrace
those of more than just one faith?
So while you defend your Christmas cheer
Remember there are others here.





submitted for Imaginary Garden With Real Toads, Sunday Challenge, Woodie Gurthrie (protest poem)

Kitsune

source

They say that cats have nine lives
I have only one life but
nine tails!
With each year, I gain wisdom,
power,
cunning
Poor kitties!
To die eight times over
To be reborn ignorant and small
Watch me grow older and better!



submitted for Imaginary Garden With Real Toads, Words Count With MZ, Sleepover Edition 

Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox.  Kitsune are a type of yokai, or spirit, believed to possess supreme intelligence, long life, and magical powers. Kitsune may have as many as nine tails. Generally, a greater number of tails indicates an older and more powerful fox. Some folktales say that a fox will only grow additional tails after it has lived 100 years.