1973. Wowel

The cutest

Word in English

When mangled

By my husband

Who is Swedish

Is:

Wowel

(His way

Of saying

Vowel)

Happily Married in San Francisco

1971. G-d's Kaleidoscope

I'm not a misanthrope

I just prefer

G-d's kaleidoscope

As my family

Plays outside

With erector sets

Hoops and nets

I hear their happy cries

In summer time

And I enjoy their joys

As I watch from inside

The sky

At sunset

Long Relationships

1972. Becoming

Today

I became

A German

Teenager

In summertime

And a matador's

Spanish wife,

Next, a cygnet

And then

A fairy

Taking flight.

How can

One woman

Be

All these

In a single life?

See you in ballet

Class tonight.

Art in San Francisco

1970. Cheerful Evening Greeting

Doorbell rings

Honey shuffles

To the door

One earphone

Akimbo

As podcasts

Spin by

Double time

We kiss

Four or five

Times

And he reaches

For my hand

Wanting to feel

His and mine

Entwined

Happily Married in San Franciso

1969. Dinner Together. Who Needs to be Hungry?

A dialogue:

Honey,

You're not eating

Very much.

Did you have

A TV dinner?

Or maybe

A lot for lunch?

Honey,

I'm eating

(Keeping)

You company.

We both smiled.

He took my hand.

Happily Married in San Francisco

1966. Game Over

An ex-lover

Called me today

Asking me

How I am

And when he

Can meet

My new

Husband

...He what?

I felt

Like

Hanging up

After all

He's not

The man

I married

He has

No right

To call

Or ask me

Happily Married in San Francisco

1965. On Poet Laureate Al Young

Last weekend

We heard

Poet laureate

Al Young

We were happy

To see him

As he was

A venerable

Gentleman

Like Morpheus

Of the matrix

In his appearance

Strength

And warmth

Yet comfortably

Casual

Like the people

Who live here

He resonated

With the audience

His poems,

Though,

Couldn't hold

My attention

I remember

Only smatterings

He spoke of jazz

And he performed

His speech

Like rhythm

In music

He reminded me

Of a gentle

Scholarly

Professor

But my mind

Wandered

To my own

Writing

Why?

Later,

In the evening

I remembered

How I knew him

We saw him

The fourth

Of July

He and his

And me and mine

All collected

On a San Francisco

Hill

To watch

Colorful starbursts

In the sky

We didn't

Introduce ourselves

We stood nearby

Admiring

Another

Of the wonders

This lovely city

Provides us
We spoke briefly

Of the sparkling

Light

On Writing, Life in San Francisco

1964. Intractable

I am a most

Intractable

Person

Unwilling

To budge

Till I want

The outcome

About Women

1963. Purposeful Forgetting

I forgot

A poem

On purpose

Today

It contained

The word

Obey

About Women