Summer's Afternoon

Within,
The whip of wind through whorls, hush
Ahead,
The filtered swell of faces, sway
Below,
The tottered stretch of droplets, break
Above,
The tapered hue of vastness, blue 

And underfoot,
The tandem crunch of brittle shells, soothing
And taken in,
The bundled waft of scented breath, errant
And understood,
The bristled nudge of probing snouts, friendly
And giving in,
The stubborn yank of tested strength, yielding
And then again,
Two in time as each the other guides, mine.

(This poem was originally published in Apt: An Online Literary Journal)

Two Cats and an Ape

Two cats spent and spread across
the black and white tile of the kitchen floor
The rise and fall of love-filled bellies
Open mouthed pants

Familiar human denuded gambols about shirtless,
his sparsely haired feet kicking dangerously near

Whiskers bristle two fanged yawn,
one naughty paw poised for one quick swat

A turn of body under lighted shade,
a world upturned and swinging
like the hapless bauble of a chandelier

An ankle rubbed to smooth away the pain
A garble of anger hollered at noses unconcerned

Beyond the brown and white zigzags of the carpet
puffs of dander and the rhythmic brush of tongue rough upon the bum.

Chirps from trees disturbed pricks and points their ears
Low slung guilt seeks places known to be restricted

(This poem was originally published in Apt - A literary Magazine in December, 2009)