Max Tries to Make a Friend

Max sits, staring at the backdoor screen.

She walks, step-step, step-step, closer to the doorway,

eyes never wavering from

the silhouette of a newly-hatched basilisk lizard

clinging to the screen.

Slowly, gently, she reaches out her paw, touches the screen.

In an instant, the tiny basilisk leaps away, disappearing off the deck.

Max sits, staring at the backdoor screen, 

           waiting for her friend to return.

Half a Year

Half a year to be absent from the shores of my true life

was harder than I thought it could be;

harder than it ought to be, to step back into my old life.

Half a year wrapped in the cold throes of old obligations;

creating the endings I sought,

shaping forever-links to friends and memories.

Half a year to lay the old to satisfactory rest;

           the past is settled, the future is open

Lilies at the edge of the jungle.

Notes – I wrote this after spending 6 months in Rochester away from Dennis and Max in Belize while tying up my career at Mayo.  It was much more stressful than I had anticipated it would be, even though I visited Belize twice during that time.