Disappearing Act

   The snoring is gone
like the whistle on the rusted blue tea kettle
cast aside
unused
but still waiting for water
to hiss and steam.

   The other side of the bed
is always made
sheets neatly tucked
pillows perfectly placed
the mattress without an imprint
or even an echo
of the passion
that once lived there,
then faded
and
finally,
became invisible.

Revisiting Emily Dickinson for the New Year

Emily Dickinson
believed it best
to dwell in possibility
where hope is the thing with feathers
     a curious world of nebulous starlight
     hazy aurora of anticipation
     climbing a wave of desire
     never becoming, never realized, never reached.

Emily Dickinson
believed it best
to let
dreams
dance into the mind
and depart
like a pirouette escaping the stage

never knowing
how it feels
to have you enter into me
expanding the universe of possibility
where Emily Dickinson never dwelled.