New Baby

Soon as the baby gets born

before she’s two hours old

people start dividing her up

“She has Daddy’s big ears”

“Got Grandma’s double chin”

“She has my olive eyes”

like she’s just a bunch

of borrowed parts

stitched together.

Well, I just got to hold her.

I touched her perfect head

and I’ll tell you this:

My sister is whole.

   from Relatively Speaking: Poems About Family

Birds’ Nests

You see birds’ nests

like upicked fruit

in branches bare

of any leaves.

When I was small

Grandma cut my hair

and tossed the clumps

onto our lawn.

“Birds will use it

to line their nests

and keep the eggs

safe and warm.”

An amazing thing:

my ordinary hair

woven into a bird’s

wild tapestry.

    Ordinary Things: Poems From a Walk in Early Spring

When I was a kid we went to the beach almost every day during the summer. We had a large family (9 kids!), and it was cheap entertainment. Sometimes a rainstorm would sweep in at the end of the day. We’d go find cover until the storm passed…and then we had the beach pretty much to ourselves.

Scavengers

By the end of the storm

almost everyone has left.

The sand feels cool and muddy

with a million tiny rain craters.

I hear the low voice of waves

and the raucous sound of birds.

Hundreds of gulls have descended

onto the deserted beach to claim

a bonanza of soggy french fries,

crusts, cookies, apple cores.

The beach will stay empty

except for these birds and us,

happy to scavenge the leftover

scraps from this summer day.

from Have You Been To The Beach Lately?