Sweet sixteen

Daughter, beware of
The wild animals in the
heavy petting zoo

First amendment

Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;
or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press; or the right of the people
peaceably to assemble,
and to petition the government
for a redress of grievances -
Unless it feels like it.

The benefits of age

Withering leaves are flags,
Signing the march of the seasons:
They are lost in the wind

Youth has gone; stuff fills the void:
A life of shopping, cleaning, and waiting

Unimaginable to the urgent young
Who, breathless, move on:
Next party, next girl, next kiss

Filling their days
With a chaos of pleasure
But unable to luxuriate in it:
No time! No time!

I'm slower now, calmer,
More thoughtful;
A line is drawn: that's done, over.
Now, what's next?

Cold

Winter lingers on
As dirty as week-old snow
Resisting the thaw