step carefully
around each seashell —
let the gulls laugh at you
moon
why do you follow me?
I am lost
at the open door
of the neighborhood bakery
pausing — just to sniff
old friend
come sit beside me
let us sing with the birds
morning fog —
crossing this bridge
will I get to the other side?
crossing the bridge
I didn't recognize you
under your new umbrella
brooding
under my umbrella —
I choose not to say hello
rainy morning
don't look at me like that
dear frog
water lilies
a deeper pink
after the rain
rainy day
slowly the sky
drips into the sea
the sweetest
plums —
rain-washed
rainy garden
it would be so easy
to disappear here
sudden downpour
a basket of cucumbers
can't run for shelter
shaking rain from her hair
the farmer waters her spinach
again
early morning rain
the turtle remains in its shell
so do I
swooping down
into a pile of fallen rose petals
the girl sneezes
waking from a dream
I cry out for my sister —
the crow also cries
first day of kindergarten
the girl tells her mother
not to worry
(inspired by Christina Malman's cover art for The New Yorker magazine, September 14, 1946)
bride's bouquet
2 butterflies also
walk down the aisle
(inspired by Ilonka Karasz's cover art for The New Yorker magazine, April 26, 1927)
under Daddy's fedora
my little sister
can't stop laughing
Daddy's fedora and cigar —
her own pink tutu —
my little sister
her wild laugh
we are girls again
jumping waves at Jones Beach
all the way to
Lake Minnehaha
the car shakes with our laughter
exhausted
the fortune teller turns her gaze
from my outstretched palm
lost in a daydream
until I see them —
poppies at sunset
you would never suspect them
but daisies
are the worst gossips
in a moment
stolen from the garden
all the peonies
even here
atop the ferris wheel
honeysuckle
under the night sky blackberries
saying goodbye one more time
Grandmother visits me
in a dream
