Adult Swim

            As we swim
From tile side
            To tile side, pumping out
Arms and legs in joyless
            Rhythms, I want to
Jump in the way and
            Splash a wild dance
Disrupting the
            Grim procession, make everyone
Crack their taut lips to a grin
            And laugh at the bubbles
Tickling bare skin.

            Lap after lap I fantasize
That suddenly
            “Esther Williams” smiles
ripple across our faces as
            the buoyed ropes break
and the pool leaps into a
            shimmer of fountains and lights,
all of us romping in glorious
            lopsided circles, delighted
                        as dolphins.

Published in Wisconsin Academy Review

Lullaby on the Bus (song lyric from Melody Girl)

Lullaby on the bus:
sunset fields through smudged glass.
As we pass through towns at dusk,
time is neither slow nor fast.

We’re all going somewhere tonight.
We sit next to silent strangers.
We each have our different destinations in mind.

Time for the lullaby on the bus:
heavy sky full of stars.
Blankets and coats cover us
as we forget where we are.

We’re all going somewhere tonight.
We can’t clearly see each other,
camouflaged in the flickering light.

It’s time for the lullaby on the bus.
Headlights glow out in front.
Old woman snores with her bags in her lap
as tough kids doze in the back.

We’re all hurrying somewhere, it seems.
We try not to touch each other,
chasing our separate dreams.

But it’s time for the lullaby on the bus.
Innocence visits us:
A baby sighs into dream;
sleep catches everyone.

We’re all traveling far from our home;
we don’t find a face, familiar.
We’re all going somewhere alone,
but we share the lullaby on the bus.