Tragic Flaw

Tragic Flaw

An Overactive Imagination
Imagining the worst is horrible.
So knowing all of the truth
-- every bit--
is tempting.
The truth must be better
than my tragic flaw.
At least it is real.

 Marsha Salerno

Secrets

Secrets

Life is so intensely personal
that it is frightening
to share
for fear of rejection
or misunderstanding.
Unsaid thoughts,
misgivings and insecurities
are not always
best unheard.
Sometimes they are best lost,
released into the fog.

 Marsha Salerno

In the Night

In the Night

I wake to your reassuring touch.
Behold your beloved face.
Your presence is powerful.
Reassuring.
Intoxicating.
My soul sought yours
and you appeared.
(for Gino)

Marsha Salerno

Adoration

Adoration

Laurel leaves grace
thy handsome brow
Where the light
of strength, wisdom
and kindness shines
past centuries to equal
Solomon, Socrates, and da Vinci
as timeless contemporaries.
Libra's balance sustains and tempers
passion, power, and creative obsession
as an admirable directional force.
Thy fair countenance,
made fairer by thy genuine heart,
draws me to thee in love's mystical nature.
 A sonnet's complication
would tribute thee,
but these simple phrases
are wrought with love and adoration.

 For Gino from Marsha February 14, 2008

Drowsy Gift

Drowsy Gift

It Is Late
I am not yet sleeping
because I choose not to do so.
Instead, I think of life
and its precarious preciousness.
The ebb of crickets and insects
too numerous to name
lull me to sleep
as I think of you.

Marsha Salerno

Robin in Blue

Robin in Blue

Comfort of the silkiest aquamarine sari.
Mystery of the living turquoise.
Cobalt of the sleek vase
wrought by her hand.
Surprise of the life-giving
egg-shell found in the grass.
Sparkling light of the precise topaz.
Succor of the secret sapphire.
Blue of the Sky where Robin soars.

Marsha Salerno

Life is Hard.

Life is Hard.

Painful.
As depressive as it is manic.
Hurt.
Everywhere we turn.
Love - Lost
Parent -- Dead
Trust -- Shaken
Friendship -- Elusive
And there is worse.
Much worse.
Disillusion
disappointment and death
lie in the future.

 Marsha Salerno

Once I Didn't Understand

Once I Didn't Understand

why or how
someone could commit suicide.
Now I understand.
They just want out.
Out of the pain.
Out of the responsibility.
Out of the guilt.
Out of the distrust.
Out of the misery.

Marsha Salerno

Romance

Romance

If your wife
ever calls you
and asks if you love her
Say yes (without pause)
I love you.
When you see her,
hold her for at least one minute.
Kiss her romantically.
Say I love you.
That is the very least you should do.

Marsha Salerno

Cuñado

Cuñado

My brother in law
once told me
that you must be happy...
...anyway.
 Life always brings problems and pain.
Love, children, family, health
friends.
Money concerns
and business,
job and career.
People.
Problems.
Woes are omnipresent in life.
His words angered me.
My own father was dying
and my sadness and grief embraced me.
I grimly smiled at his advice
and said I guess you are right.
 I did not know he was so wise.
Es la Vida. 

 Marsha Salerno

Realization

Realization

Tireless washing, cooking, cleaning

doing, helping, listening, loving
missing the fun
always up and going.
Why didn't she mind?
I never knew
Until I stood in
His kitchen cooking and cleaning
for the one I loved.
Then I knew
why she didn't mind.
I understood.

Marsha Salerno

The Carpet

The Carpet

Serpentine Circling upon itself
A musty braided mystery
of dust and tradition.
Brown, black, white
winding around,
spiraling in on the parlor floor. 

Marsha Salerno

2009

Piano Lesson

Piano Lesson

Let me hear your lesson.
Did you practice?
Good boy.
Do your five finger exercises.
Good. Do do do duh da da da dah Good.
Remember to connect your tones.
There you did it.
That is nice.
You'll want to play that one for fun.
Remember to hold the half notes.
One more time.
And this was a new sign:
Repeat with two dots.
Left hand.
Now right. Not bad.
Quarter quarter half note.
Quarter quarter half note.
Good. Let's see if you got it.
There you go.
You can practice that again for next week.

Marsha Salerno

2009

Overheard Telephone Conversation

Overheard Telephone Conversation

No I'M NOT coming home 

You treat me like nothing 

I don't want to be around you 

You don't know what you are doing to me
I'm not coming home till very late.
I'm on my way to the car now.
No! I won't come home.
On my way to the car.
At the park.
I am leaving now.

Marsha Salerno

summer 2019

Lost Opportunity

Lost Opportunity

I stand here washing the dishes 

and I sigh 

For all the times 

my mother washed 

and I did not want to help her, 

but I had to. 

I sigh for those moments 

I wished to be elsewhere. 

I sigh for those moments 

I could have spent with her in bliss. 

But, at least we were together. 

I did not understand 

the enormity of those moments 

as she instructed me 

in the ways of the world, 

and the code to live by 

floating in the air 

like bubbles of soap. 

Marsha Salerno