Irreversible

Why is it, plans newly made
The ones that cost the most
Literally and figuratively
The ones that feel written
In stone, are also the ones
That almost immediately
Most require a change

Out of the blue, as they say
Comes notice of something so
Huge, there is no ignoring it
No putting it off to the side
No pretending it’s not going
To happen and that you don’t
Have to take part in it

And the original plan and
The new event are going to
Collide with such exactitude
That there will be no getting
Around it; there will be no
Way to post-pone either
Moment in time - they will
Occur no matter what you do

Heart to Heart

You have owned my heart

Longer than I have had it

Wherever I travel, you go

There too, a part of every

Thing and every place I am,

By way of your constant love

For me, your unconditional

Love that has proven its

Strength and heart healing

Worth, time and time over

Let me be worthy of owning

Your heart, the one I know

You leave for safe-keeping

Always beating perfectly

In time with mine

S.E.Ingraham©

THEY CALL IT GENTRIFICATION

We walk the streets looking
For a sign, any sign that once
These homes housed ones
Such as we – but there is
Little or no evidence

Now, the places look similar
Each one the same as
Every other; all painted trim
And newly shingled

With false brick facades
And cheery gingerbread
Edges and mailboxes
With hearts cut-out


They look eerily story-book
Familiar but with a patina
Of fake all the same
And there seems to be
Little soul associated
With the neighbourhood

Of our youth – we slow
As we come to the end of
Another block and look back
At the uniformity – all the lawns
Exactly the same; the fences
Perfect heights surrounding
Perfect lots – but no children


Anywhere – in fact,
One could be forgiven
For thinking it a ghost
Town – there are no people
To be seen in our old
Ghetto – it’s been renovated


And it’s beyond depressing
Now; it’s hard to put a name
To why we cannot embrace
This improvement
It feels all wrong as if they
Tore down a park and put up
A parking lot

ELEPHANTINE

They walked the earth

When it was newly wrought

And walk it still – stately,

Majestic beasts

Ancient wisdom travelling

In herds

Herds where the males stomp

And charge

And carry on, but it’s

The aunties and the mamas

That control the group

Protect the young,

Keep the peace

Elephantine has many meanings

And some of them

Quite ugly—

Clumsy, unwieldy—

But really?

It just means elephant-like

In manner

Then the word sings,

Is melodic with its

Four syllables

And speaks of an

Abundance of

Large pachyderms

A great number

Of the magnificent

Ones that travel

In herds and honour

Their dead in graveyards

Almost human-like

Elephantine – it sounds

Like music.

S.E.Ingraham©

FARLEY

You were the last thing I needed, another dog

Just after having our last put down

And me spiralling before that awful day

As it was, to learn that you were coming

To live with us – I wasn’t very gracious

About it, but it just seemed too much

I don’t remember the early weeks

Much except that you cowered a lot

Looked like you expected to be hit if anyone

Moved too quickly, or spoke too loud

And while I don’t recall this, apparently

You ran away at least twice and had to be

Bailed out of the pound – once you were gone

For over a week – it seemed you could hardly

Believe anyone wanted you – did you sense

I couldn’t care less ... I regret that now

 Then, as I started to feel better, you

Came wherever I was and stayed near me;

I began to appreciate your gentleness

Could not quite believe the mix you purportedly

Sported – oh, your Border Collie traits were

Obvious, especially on walks; off-leash, you

Would try herding every animal in sight

But part wolf? At first I couldn’t see it

Then I noticed you in the yard with your head

Thrown back, ears pricked up and snout sniffing

The wind, nostrils quivering, for all you were worth

And when I told the vet you caught mice – he

Said that was common for canines but when I

Told him you also ate them, he hesitated, looked

At you at little more closely and said, that was

More a lupine feature and respectfully, admitted

You might have quite a bit of that mixture after all

Farley, the wolf-dog that shares my life and lets me

Share his – gentleness, muse, confessor, my pet.

S.E.Ingraham©

Defenestration


No one wanted to tell her
What had happened exactly
They danced around the fact
Of how her father had met
His end, implying only
It had been quick, but nobody
Seemed able to meet her eyes
When she asked where was
He taken, what hospital and,
Should she rush there?


No, no – there was no need
For hurry – that was clear
So she knew he was dead
That was certain, but how?
Again, with the tip-toeing
Around, not coming out
With it – finally his boss
Just blurted it out – said
He was sorry, didn’t know that
Joe from Accounting was so
Unstable, ready to go postal
At any moment


When he finally did, her Dad
Just happened to be standing
closest; and old Joe grabbed him
In a kinda bear-hug and rushed him
to the big floor to ceiling windows—
It wasn’t until then that she
noticed the plywood covering—
Plate-glass windows that they had all
Assumed were super-strong,
Unbreakable in fact, but as it turned out,
Shattered on impact, like egg-shells
And did so when Joe released her Dad,
Tossing him like a Frisbee against them


Shattered as her Dad sailed on out
Of the thirty-fifth floor and plunged
To the sidewalk below
“Defenestration,” the boss said
“That’s what the cops say
It’s called when someone
Gets tossed out a window ...”
She just stared at him wondering
How he could take such evident
Pleasure in telling her such news
Talking about her father like he
Was nothing more than a child’s toy
And why it was necessary for her
To know this last useless piece of
Information- why he didn’t just stop
Talking now – why she felt so angry.


S.E.Ingraham©

Learning the Lines

The lines in your palm predict the way your life will go

The lines in your face tell the way your life has gone

But the most important lines are the ones you say

Every day that aren’t written anywhere but make up

The fabric and weft and weave of the play that is what

Ultimately turns out to be the poem that is your life

If you are one of the fortunate ones, you learn early

Some of the phrases that work well to help keep peace

In your home, in your heart, in your family but don’t

Make you sell out your soul in the process; you learn

Your lines as if they are a part of you and one day, they

Will be; you will make sense of the lines and life will

become easier all round, once you begin learning

the lines.

©SE Ingraham