The Big Hug
Live long enough and you may see
Those you loved and who didn’t love you —
Heroes, fantasies, icons, dreamboats, filigree
All disappear, never-were, something about a big imagination
While those you do love and they do love you
They also disappear, here today gone tomorrow, poof
Kindness
No one spoke to her much, how strange —
Not family or friends and even those who
Sat with us at meals couldn’t say a word to her
Or even look her way. That must be beauty.
But every time she went to town and was alone —
A pretty scarf, an intriguing handbag, forever
And ever elderly women in parking lots and
Aisles of stores sought her out. This daughter
Whose own mother wouldn’t speak to her
Had women without daughters
Eating seed from her hand.
No Other
After she was sick awhile
She became thinner
Still young enough and strong
Her moves sexy
I couldn’t keep my hands off her hips
The attention delighted her
She blushed instead of being too confident
Her hair fell to pieces like always
When she looked up my sky was blue
At night she fell asleep by the wood fire
There never would be another woman
Rain at the windows for days was welcome
In times of trouble no one wanted to listen to this stuff
To Have
To have every bird in the woods
Finally sing and I am known to it
Is all the morning I ask
To see the flower garden
Move as a dress on your body
Is all the day I wish
To have the stars rise from the river
And you think of me not as crazy
Has to be the night ahead
—————————
BOB ARNOLD
I'm In Love With You
Who Is In Love With Me
Longhouse 2012
