Proof of Good Memories

After watching Dane Cook

outbursts of candid
emotion
fill the room

my laugh
reminds me
of my father’s

I can remember
the last time we laughed
together

we were watching
the Three Stooges.

we laughed until
the tears rolled down the cheeks
of our so-alive faces
holding our mid-sections
in a wonderfully aching display
of laughter
between a father . . . and a son.

~~~


Minty Green Memories


The smell of this tea
so steamy it takes me
walking through childhood pastures.

It takes me down
down by the creek
the one back home in Indiana
the one that overflowed
from one pond into another.
Spearmint grew leafy and green
along the edges.

I used to go there, alone
watch the water flow
over smooth colored stones
breathe in the minty fragrance

shaded from the rest of the world.


I often go there in my mind
but I am still a child.
He should stay.
He is safe there.