knowing this book
will end 
"happily ever after"
grandma falls asleep
before she finishes the story

a rerun
of the tonight show
the willows listen
to the light
of the moon's monologue

lacking the pizzazz
of madeleine albright's brooches
I am content to have my mood
expressed by the flashes
of another gloomy thunderstorm

echoes of children
in the playground
an acorn
still rolling across
the classroom floor

our government cloaked
in its "business as usual" attire
how many fish have to die
before the epa
decides to investigate

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2010/09/huge_fish_kill_reported_in_pla.html

temporarily blinded
by the morning light
I slowly pass
a bicyclist maneuvering
around traffic cones

on a ping-pong table
with the net askew
it reminds me of a chalkboard
where all the lessons
have been erased

who knows how long it's been
since their last meal
the unplugged stove
with a soup spoon
and an overturned saucepan

with its short tail
wrapped around seaweed
it's not likely the extinction
of the dwarf seahorse 
will make the front page news

wishing my son
a "happy birthday" on 9-11
the brief song
of a henslow sparrow
before it flies away

Like me, the henslow sparrow is not noted for its vocal ability but it likes to sing anyway.