I Love My Children

Healthy
Whole
Kind
Patient
Funny
Creative
Smart
Intelligent
Peaceful
Thoughtful
Strong
Beautiful
Handsome
Focused
Determined
Wise
Sensitive
Attentive
Curious
Stubborn
Hungry
Thirsty
Angry
Sad
Lazy
Sleepy
Flexible
Entertaining
Loving
Mine

Outside the Simplicity of Skin

What do I know of the journey
dreary as I meander
on a damp and slithering trail?

By the lamp that watches the slight
variations of air as I exhale,
you might think that the breath
was something to flop past
and trounce before it gets control.

That is not necessarily the case
and we can, instead, watch summer bugs
with hard shells and wings
know the way,
the slime and abandoned places to avoid
just long enough to retreat
and make a new life in the simplicity
and solitude

outside of skin.