Sweatshirt Poems

Bitter cold creeps in through my bedroom window.
Wind chimes clang on the porch to announce her arrival.
December making way for the nuances of January.
I am layering up.
Two pairs of socks.
Two pairs of slacks.
Fluffy hooded sweatshirt 
Over t-shirt and sweater.
Why do...Read More

Wicked whispers, like hisses,
slithered throughout the office
when the disliked departed for the day.
Rotten hysteria blared
like beastly blasts.
Louder their voices leaped
as they could see that she was gone.
On and on they'd bleep
about her crazy ways,
her annoying voice,
her ogre odor,
her misfit outfits...Read More

Crisp ...
You lay like solemn ashes
'Neath glass ... spotless, sacred
Dried to bright hues ...
The shades of her lips in chill autumn air
(Winter, whisp'ring soft)
Edges crimped ...
Like the hems of her pleated tartan skirt
You are the vestige, precious
Of a moment ...
A...Read More

“A cousin is a little bit of childhood that cannot be lost”
                            ...Read More

To sum up dress code:
Boys: Wear clothes
Girls: No mini skirts, crop tops, short shorts, ripped jeans, leggings, yoga pants, spaghetti straps, low necklines...
Shall I go on?

"Do you have a sweatshirt that you can cover yourself with?"
A principal asks
In 80 degree...Read More

Orange is my go-to color because I look smashing in it
Not anymore, but I used to when I was twelve
I had the most darling orange sweatshirt 
Probably disintegrated now after being sliced, washing cars.

I am an artist; and neon-orange is...Read More

Autopsy of someone I used to know 

Im staring at the figure of someone I have forgotten to know 
She wears her hair down
And her wide eyes stare at mine. 
She looks a lot like me, she has the same...Read More

If I were to tell you
Of a Saturday in May,
Of lying in bed as the sun came up
And brightened the room;

If I were to tell you
Of the fluttering curtains,
Of the cool air flooding in
And how I curled up beneath the...Read More

Should the house and all its contents be lost
 and everything pay the price of disastrous cost
I would put on my jeans and sweatshirt warm,
  clasp my dog, my companion, take my dachshund  from harm,
   ...Read More

Some people are bored.
I am not.
Some people live the same day every day.
I don’t.
Some people never change their opinions.
I do.
Some people have not picked up a book since high school or college.
I am not one of those.
Some people do not...Read More

Do you remember being an optimistic fifth-grader, selling door to door?
Flower seeds?  Candy bars?  Potato chips? House plants?  Tickets to the fifth-grade Thanksgivings feast?
Adding up the prizes in your head.
If we sell $300 worth of merchandise, we...Read More

Hey, no fair! We don’t get to wear our pajamas!

I am wearing a Mickey Mouse sweatshirt, and pink corduroy pants.

Did you think these are my pajamas? I ask her.

Age five nods her head.

Did you sleep in them? She queries.

I laugh.

No,...Read More

A thousand sunset nights
Dark shadows on the ground
Can't drown out the light
When you were around
Your voice from back then
Still whispers in my ear 
Girl, you in my sweatshirt 
The thought brings a tear
And though we're far away
In my heart you...Read More

I'm sitting like a fat gray cat in the sun,
watching my forest gently dance, 
The wind is barely breezing, 

The bird songs are the only sounds
I hear except for the running water
of my fountain and my wheezing.

I have cut my...Read More

Why do you write?
Says the boy in the sweatshirt
What will you write?
Asks the woman on the stage
How will you live?
Asks the sensible man
Will you be famous?
Asks the child again.
Do not ask, I do not know
Thank you for your interest, though.
...Read More

When February feels like May
And skies are blue instead of gray,
We flock outdoors, but do not know
Which way our clothing needs to go.

Winter jacket? Much too warm;
Lots of beads of sweat will form.
Sweater? Sweatshirt? Poncho? Fleece?
Doubts won’t let me leave...Read More

HAIBUN

Ol’ man winter’s frosty breath blows cold flakes in to deep mounds. His crystal blades suspended like daggers from eave edges waiting for the right time to strike.  His white blankets never cease to fall, layer upon unrelenting layer....Read More

I'm suffering from a slight 
case of the flu
This I do know 
The symptoms give themselves away
Suffering in many ways 

I thought it was a bad cold 
but it gets worse and worse 
Mom wants me to go to the...Read More

I feel alone. 
I have gone through trouble, 
I have been in the middle of trouble, 
I am trouble. 
Through these hard days I have done stuff that I regret. 
My bracelets cover my scars,
My sweatshirt covers my insecurities,
My smile...Read More

      One day as a boy, I went down to the sea,
   Clambered o'er rocks way out to the bluff,
 Stopping to search the tide pool for shells,
Senses awakened by strong, briny smells.
...Read More

I gave my love a cherry 
And asked him to bake a pie
I washed the dirty dishes
And told him he could dry
I carried up the laundry
To see if he could fold
I took his favorite sweatshirt
And told him I was cold
I...Read More

I want a date
Where we start
Awkward
And become age old
Friends by the end of it,
Not a
Half-hearted
Love story
Written
In its entirety
Before we’ve even
Begun.

I want some
Smiles
At god-awful jokes,
Coffee (caffeinated)
At 3 in the morning
When we watch the sun
Come up,
Dawn breaking on a night
Well spent
Without sleeping.

I...Read More

Teddy-bear
Day-dreams
Of a
Flower girl
Full of
Blue eyes,
White lies
And a

Smile
I see
Everywhere 
I go-
Her ghost
Is good at
Haunting
And she
Left
A long time
Ago
But

I see her
Again,
Not in some
Mirror-whisper
But in other
Flower girls
With their
Teddy-bear
Dreams:

This one
Wears a
Sweatshirt 
Like a
Shield;

That one
Disappears
Into songs
So she can
Ignore
How her
Tummy
Rumbles
When she
Sleeps-
She doesn't eat-

If there is
One thing
That the...Read More

I loved them
Every bone in her body
Every tooth in her smile
Every thread in her sweatshirt
Every vein in her aged hands
They comforted me in ways that nothing ever could
So heartwarming I didn’t know how to function when I couldn’t brush my...Read More

I let my mind go out to play,
And in jeans and sweatshirt in a forest lay.
Spring branches arching so high above,
Sunrays literally touching my toes.

I saw a bird of many colors,
An eagle looked down at me,
Heard the rustle of little...Read More