the merits of the cake

the party of the first part,
considering the merits of the cake,
adjudged the occasion worthy of the risk,
taking advantage of the outrageously low fares
available at all times to dreamers everywhere,
which was the icing of the thing, or perhaps
just the predictable result of a mind bent
on discovering how and why it is
that any cakes ever go
uneaten

Last, Long Winter

I think of her that last, long winter:
How it was supposed to be —
Walking down that lonesome valley
Past the fence, and tree lines —

But you — you never knew her, did you?
Eyes that laughed at simple things,
The ludicrous, the painful (sometimes)
Even getting old —

How many roads within a lifetime:
Steps, missteps, and retraced steps —
The people we love best, but find
We barely knew at all

The sleep that comes the last, long winter,
Blankets clutched unsteadily,
Until the morning, down the road
Across the hill