epitome of gentle shy brown
eyes cast down to page
of fiction (science) flavored with
the taste of diner poetry

another might be giddy to
work part time in chocolate
the rest in books but
that’s from outside looking in

inside might reside pure melancholy
or a ferocious cante jondo

wry whimsical and francophilic
more than you’d expect from a
financial guy, even one involved
in SRI and – Green! – friend
I can (almost) confide in
though I keep my stupider
fiscal theories to myself and
cast dollar signs aside rather
than hold him to cold hard
facts of cash accumulation

successful at Penn State including
Italian studies in Milan – her
travel yen, our benefit that
year – now traveling far beyond
our reach, this redhaired valley
Huckleberry poles her raft decisively
through tricky currents, voluptuous sunsets
soothe her hedgehog nature, prickly,
plucked, unsettled, searching as they
do for what’s right here

“be like a girl today”
the business, founded to inspire
a flock of nieces after
her own boy grew up –
aunts are their family’s treasure,
caring across borders, sharing
summer at the lake, the annual
blueberry pancake breakfast, crème
brûlée to die for, black poodles
bouncing ’round some happy girls

most distant from the grid –
hunting fishing odd jobs building
homes incessant relocation with resistance
to conveniences we named as
necessary – independent ’til the end,
when he escaped the medical
establishment by suicide – I think
his family suffered, but I never
heard his personal POV,
can’t tell if he’s redeemed

“caught inside a dream unfolding”
her impressions, both fleeting and
profound, arrive dressed in their
best abstract vocabulary – dash, splash,
color, shapes of nature rendered
on the press, results impress
with effort, talent, time incalculable,
hers original, her students’ copies
of the prime creation, rough
beasts that slouch toward elegance

was knight bachelor, now knight
banneret – senior postal worker with
nice home that seemed too empty
suddenly makes mid-life decision –
takes the field of Family,
banner flying, flanked by lady,
two grown children, fully armored
with the dignities and entitlements
appropriate to his rank: armchair
and high-end home computers (macs)