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Barbara Boyd Poem
Glassy, green eyes
Narrowing in on me,
The gaze: raw, piercing.
First, fierce
Then disinterested.
Back to sleep,
Curling into a soft, impenetrable mound
Atop the couch.
I relax, following his lead.
All is well: after all, he's Just a cat,
A pet
Possessing no strange powers.
Yet, red eyes in the dark stir in me:
Some magic is going on here,
He, the keeper of the secret,
Can never disclose.
Copyright © Barbara Boyd | Year Posted 2013
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Barbara Boyd Poem
Oh, I'm so nervous,
So full of doubt: she's coming home and
I can only shout,
"No, I'm not ready!"
Please hear me out:
You are a child,
Then an elder,
Then infant again.
You are my mother,
I, your daughter
Then it gets all switched around
Only to come back
To the ends of beginnings.
Some tell me, "Detach."
They say, "Pretend you're not the daughter
Pretend you are Just A Caregiver.
Pretend
You have no bond.
After all, you Must Survive!"
Too much history,
Too much blood: she gave me life,
She gave me breath,
She watched me walk, then stumble
Then fall,
Get back up so I could be tall
(like her).
(How can I pretend this didn't happen?).
For now she shuffles,
My ancient elder,
Shuffles
Then stops
Then walks toward me,
Crying out, her arms out wide,
"No more walker! The hell with that!
I'm free! I'm free!
Just leave me Be!
I AM NOT, AFTER ALL,
93!"
(oh, I am so nervous).
Copyright © Barbara Boyd | Year Posted 2014
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Barbara Boyd Poem
A small, tired girl
Waiting for Something Big.
"You must stay up!" my mother said.
"At midnight,
THE BALL WILL DROP!
And
People in crowds will hug and kiss!"
"It's New Year's Eve! It's New Year's Eve!"
The T.V. said,
"Coming to You Live
From New York's Times Square!"
Oh, say, can't you see?
My parents' eyes shining,
stuck to the screen.
Where did they go?
They certainly don't see me.
Then
I saw it: the ball dropped,
The confetti flew,
People danced, hugged and kissed,
Lost all together
To a champagne mist.
This is Big, I said
Then went to bed.
I felt it then, I feel it now.
There Is a suspense,
A turning of a page,
Though I pretend
It's Just Another Day.
Copyright © Barbara Boyd | Year Posted 2013
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Barbara Boyd Poem
The sadness is amazing:
How wide its shores,
How long its darkness,
How high its' cries-
How it engulfs me,
Pins me to the board,
How exacting its' target.
Then
How right is its moor,
Tied to the dock,
Settling,
No longer breathing,
Just staying
In its white and gray waves,
Just bobbing, sloshing,
Staying.
Copyright © Barbara Boyd | Year Posted 2014
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Barbara Boyd Poem
If it wasn't for winter,
Who would see
The branches of a naked tree?
Yes, we mourn
Bright this
And Pretty that,
Yet look at the show the branches
Put On:
Spindly fingers brushing the sky,
Some,
Straight up in a pert salute
To the heavens,
Some, wildly white,
Adamant
Against a dark gray sky.
It's their time to shout their glory:
All we have to do is notice.
Copyright © Barbara Boyd | Year Posted 2014
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