Forgotten tongues

Language, lost or found, 
Some of it missing, much
Of it missed. I speak of
Mine, not his. I lost my 
Voice in the language of
My motherland, the one
Spoken by my mother, a
Loss I find inexplicable 
But troubling. How did I
Forget familiar sounds,
Making them foreign? I
Guess I should say once
Familiar. Now foreign.

Yesterday, or maybe a few days ago

There was snow on the roof.
Today, in the sunshine, it's gone
Its disappearance an absence,
As if, as if it had never been.
There was snow on that roof.
I remember it, as if, as if it was
Yesterday, or always, as if snow
On the roof was the usual, the 
Appearance I expected to see.
Its disappearance an absence,
Not a fact, not today's reality.
Memory is like that, bending 
The mind back to where it was.
Today, it's gone, its disappearance 
An absence, not today's reality. 
Memories are like that, indelible


A postscript, by way of extension, And a sigh over memory, often mislabeled fleeting, but actually etched…..

Eggplant / Aubergine

Aubergine, the breathy British
Voice reads, and I translate it
Forming the word silently, it's 
Eggplant, I hear in my head. I
Regret it sounds so provincial
In the American. Isn't the UK
Interpretation of the vegetable
Prettier? More melodious and
Exotic. I say that as someone 
Intoxicated by any food that's 
Eggplant-adjacent, it was with
A thrill I discovered pizza that
Was topped by large rings of 
The purple bulb, for example.
Aubergine on my pizza, does
That not trip off your tongue,
Easily, sweetly, with the total
Alacrity. Aubergine parmesan?
Eggplant parmegiano? Which 
One is more delectable do you
Think? Aubergine parmegiano.

Red

The Wolf grinned 
Sheepishly. The 
Better he trailed 
Off. Red loved her
Granny. She did
Not know what the
Wolf had done to
Her granny. He was
Not her granny, even
In disguise. He was
Wearing her glasses.
That was comical.
Red was worried 
But she had to laugh
The Wolf did not
Have a sense of
Humor. Red thought
About all the times
She and her granny
Joked and laughed.
Red said You look
Ridiculous to the
Wolf. He grinned
Or was that his way
Of wincing. All the
Better, he repeated
Red missed her
Granny. The Wolf 
Shrugged. He was
Just being who he
Was, Red thought,
And she sighed

Embraced

Is it love, or vanity that demands
You be faithful while I enjoy a flirt
Can you have my whole heart if
You hold a fraction of my attention
My freedom ringed by an embrace
Love should never be so absolute
As to exclude all other possibility.
Love is possibility, like an embrace
It encircles everything and holds
Firm the heart, held yet free, not to
Explore beyond the embrace but to
Soar in its inevitability, held free, 
Held fast, embraced, encircled in 
Love, exclusive but free to explore
Can you have my whole heart if
You hold a fraction of my attention
Is it love, or is it vanity holding us
Fast, faithful in love, free to soar

Topsy turvy

Rule of thumb, or follow the
Vernacular guidelines, in the
Patois of compliance, do as
You are told. That's a rule of
Thumb. Obey, execute, do as
You are told. Comply with, be
Observant and fulfill orders.
Adhere to whatever, although
It's not scientific or evident or
Based on evidence. It's a rule 
Of thumb, it approximates the
Rules that ought to guide us,
But is not so precise as to be
Demanding or insistent. It's a 
Rule meant to be followed on
The bias, zigzag, not a straight
Line. It's a rule of thumb which
Is not so much a rule, as a bit
Of a guideline, a suggestion to
Think on. Rule of thumb is no
Rule at all, with the thumb on
The scales, justice is turned to
Injustice, the scale unbalanced
Unhinged, the rule o'erweighed 
By the print of the thumb, rules
Crushed. The scales overturned
The rule of thumb gone astray

Thumbnail

Rule of thumb, yes, and
Does the weight of that
Thumb not bend, or yes,
Break the rules, pushing
Down on the scale so it
Moves, imperceptibly to
Injustice, losing balance
And a sense of fairness.
Scales of justice by the
Poke of a thumb weigh
In away from integrity,
Towards inequity, from
What's right to doing ill
Away from virtue toward
Corruption. That's a rule
Of thumb.

By chance, by choice

Crawling close to the ground as
Rocks rolling close to the edge
Is this a perilous path we chose
Or fell upon, willy-nilly, by chance
Or choice? Are we in a position
To make a decision, to correct
Course? Is this a perilous path 
We asked for, that we wanted 
For ourselves, consciously and
In our right mind? I, blah blah, 
Being of sound heart, have set
My journey on this course. We
Are human beings, and being
Human, we walk the earth on 
Two feet. We are always on a
Back foot. Humans evolved to
Walking upright, being human
We only crawl when abjected,
Humiliated, as if we were cast
Off, drawn close to the ground
Is this a perilous path we chose