Lotta Poems

Dakota Stage

Liked the people there,
How they draped their arms on the wiry railings,
How they kicked their feet as they sat on the stage,
How the looked out into the empty auditorium,
And felt like a star,
Liked how we talked,
Confident and loud,
When we became our character,
Exciting
Energetic,
Liked how it contrasted the ivory colored walls,
And the dim lighting,
And the dust particles floating in the air
The costumes beneath the stage,
All the colors
And masks and dresses,
Boxes of shoes,
Fabric flowers,
Scraps and leftovers,
Smelled old and like wood,
Loved that place

Brent

The morning he left,
I got up early,
Threw my hair in a messy ponytail,
Threw on yesterdays jeans
And a wrinkled t-shirt,
Found mis-matching socks,
And tied my shoes in the car,
The sky was still dark,
Light just peeking over the horizon,
I’d never been up so early,
Never so early and never so anxious,
So final
Mom sat next to me,
Can’t remember if we talked
Arrived at the airport,
Couldn’t find him,
Sat down, waited
Waited
Waited
They came, Brent, Ellyn, Nanna,
All carrying his bags,
All looking tired and sad and just like me
Ellyn had on a Yankee’s baseball cap, her short hair
In mini pig-tails, knit-scarf and jacket,
Bought a handful of fruity Mentos for me,
Grabbed a few, mostly pink,
Gave the rest to me, and a quarter for some more,
Hand turned yellow and orange,
Candy stained,
We stood beside him while he checked in for his flight,
Followed him up the escalators that usually
Are really fun,
Prayed with him,
Safe flight,
Until we meet again,
Watched him standing on the other side of the glass,
Waved and blew kisses,
Wouldn’t see him for a while now,
Off to Nicaragua,
Meeting Shawn,
Who just yesterday had left too,
Got back in car,
Mom drove to the Donut Hole
Bought a dozen different kinds,
No jelly-filled
We hate that kind,
Just chocolate and white-frosting flavored,
A couple powdered,
Or cinnamon and sugar,
I wasn’t tired,
I wasn’t hungry,
I just wanted them to
Come home


August 28th, Stormy Night

Brothers thumbing
Melodic chords,
Singing about
The world being painted blue,
But the I wished to see your smile,
The evening everything thrashed wildly through the air,
Rumpled the leaves,
Worn and weathered,
That night birthed a fierce storm,
Like a dragon, it breathed out
An orange flame sky,
The wind tumbled and twirled
In open-air acrobatics,
As the sky chanted its own
Earthly song,
And my heart beat in step
With a thunder bongo dance
The rapture of my arms,
Wide and expanding across
That molten sky,
I threw myself into
The depths of the ritual,
And came out of it
Still
Without
You