School Days
The world is suffering
Covid has taken a toll
However do not tell
Our lil scholar
Trying to get on the honor roll.
© CMM. 2022
Dancing in Grandma’s Kitchen: A Nostalgic Memory
We were young
music was in our feet.
My older sister and I
left with the chores
of the evening after dinner
to clean the kitchen.
We would wash the dishes
and as we did, we danced.
rock and roll
and beach music,
the shag was the rage,
on linoleum floors.
Our grandparent’s home
with white wash cupboards.
a small kitchen table.
A swinging door to the dining room.
A door we kept closed
so we could dance to the radio.
a radio sitting on the yellow table
loud enough to get by …
not loud enough to get caught.
Elvis, Beach Boys and Buddy Holly
transformed into our bandstand
as we found ourselves dancing
in grandma’s kitchen …
CMM © 2022
Black Eye Peas
Black eye peas my ancestors would say.
Eat them for luck on New Years Day.
A spoonful, a bowl they did not care.
Leaving the table , you did not dare .
Black eye peas will sit there forever
As it waits, this new year’s endeavor .
CMM © 2022
Tea Leaves
Tea leaves
Float aimlessly
Stirring moments
Of newness
New day
New year
New hopes
New beginnings
Some people read tea leaves
— I just drink them .
2022 © CMM
The Eve
The Eve
The eve of New Year has arrived
The fog rolls in covering the lamppost
The dismal air filled with a chill of a pending storm.
Maybe this is it, maybe the fog will usher the new year.
Maybe the white snow trailing behind it will bed the past.
The squirrels will scamper into the nested trees
The only sound when we venture out will be our footsteps,
The screams of the last murder of crows left behind with hope.
The hope to find the last field just turned from farmer’s plow.
Crunching the frozen ground laid by winter’s arrival,
We are brought into the silence of ourselves
Maybe then, we will think to pray.
CMM. 2021
Magical Gingerbread House
A ginger bread house
Of warmth and love
Put together in tenderness
A sweetness of charm
A glowing touch
A sharing of familiarness
The walls are strong
And stuck with glue-
Like snow glistening
The roof and the snow
Are cotton candy sweet.
the walk a chocolate tantalizing.
CMM ©2021
Father Time
Father Time returns
Another year older
His beard whiter
The weather much colder .
CMM © 2021
The Beginning
The full moon lunars
Into morning
Matthew’s lineage
Takes us into the stable
As the Dawn of love
Breaks a silence
Of despair …
The universe conspires
sounding into a holy night .
A baby cries…
CMM © Dec 2021
Eagle and Child Inkling 