Architecture

Architecture

by Alicia Millar

Under curling leafs

unfurling

are the beams

in the twisting bark

and mountains misting

are the seams

in winding water

finding oceans

buttress flies

in leaping leopards

reaping prey

foundation lies

where god and science

live in conscience

are the plans

in constellations

revelations made by man

Never Kept

Never Kept

by Alicia Millar

You never kept me in your heart

So I'm free

to think, to love, to see

accountable only to me

and can blessedly tell

our values apart

I could not have lasted in your heart

Envies the Rain

Envies the Rain

by Alicia Millar

The girl watches

knees pulled to chest,

the rain that falls

the drops are all

so lovely

each one the same

the nature of rain

making their kamakaze plunge

towards the concrete

an army of Magritte

clones one and all, those little men,

and though they fall

to their demise,

the girl is sad to realize

that she envies every one of them.

On Dating a Lovely Parrot

On Dating a Lovely Parrot

by Alicia Millar

That girl you keep

I hope she's sweet

she asks an awful lot

Don't forget

she's not your pet

nor something that you bought

If she's a bird

whose only words

are "buy me" this and that

You might think twice

it could be nice

to trade her for a cat

Sink

Sink

by Alicia Millar

My spirit, the water

My body, the well

My wish is the stone,

I cast into Hell

Down in those depths

where old wishes sigh

is the child I once was

not ready to die

Period

Period

by Alicia Millar

A life punctuated with

question marks,

exclamations of sorrow or outrage

and ellipses thrown out into space like fishing line

to prompt the universe

to give an answer

- ANY answer

as to why things are

and why we must carry out this life-sentence?

Where is the POINT in it all?!...

No answer to the question comes,

but as always,

the daisies nod their heads in the breeze

as if to assure us:

"Don't worry, you'll see it at the end."

Suicide

Suicide

by Alicia Millar

A self-deprecating joke,

like suicide,

we reveal much of ourselves

in how we hide

I Heart Rabbits

I Heart Rabbits

(A Story of China)

by Alicia Millar

Rabbits! Rabbits!

In the woods!

Warrens are their

neigborhoods

Rabbits! Rabbits!

In their huts!

Coax them forward

give them nuts!

Look! On TV!

Rabbits selling Ginseng tea!

In the factories

making shoes!

I love rabbits!

Yes, I do!

Rabbits! Rabbits!

Everywhere!

Rabbits even,

in my hair!

I love rabbits!

Yes, I do!

In my wallet!

In my stew!

Anger

Anger

by Alicia Millar

Not fast, nor

decisively,

with no winner

precisely,

the colonists came,

arm-bands bearing red

- red is their color

the color of their flags

on a field of black and white,

where their cornerstones were laid

their math always right,

and no room for "maybe"

the Governor is

a bully to the natives

who almost accept this invasion

with saucer-eyed wonder,

but for the primal guerrilla

who knows,

as far as life goes,

there must be room left for innocence

Mastering the Hounds

Mastering the Hounds

by Alicia Millar

Words run like ferrel dogs

Over the snowy page, making tracks - their print, they are

Necromancers, raising our imaginations from the

Dead, and in the grip of masters who know, like Carroll and Poe, are made real; the

Etheral can be touched, the

Rain felt, we can actually hear the thunder, filling us with dreams, consuming us with

Murder She Rote

Murder She Rote

by Alicia Millar

sit still

heads up

heads down

only smile

don't frown

don't laugh

don't play

don't be funny

not today

don't draw

don't sigh

cross your "t's"

and dot your "i's"

two plus two

is always four

get it right

or there's the door

you will learn

to love to learn

I'll fill your head

my little urn

and in your

rank, and file and style

I'll find some peace

just for a while

Blood On My Sleeve

Blood On My Sleeve

by Alicia Millar

And again Jack asks, somewhat exasperated, "Why don't you wash that stain out, already? It's such a big ugly mark on the fabric," and again I explain that I've tried. At best, I've managed to fade it over time, using spot remover and strong detergent, but there it sits, for all to see. He then asks why I don't just throw the garment away - out with the old, in with the new, as they say...

But there's security in familiarity, a sense of trust in the knowledge I must mistrust. What if I forget about the day I cut my arm?

And anyway, I could never be sure to find another blouse just like it.

Ice Queen

Ice Queen

by Alicia Millar

She was an icy gale in April,

after a lovely, balmy day -

I put my scarf back on to hide

and dream of safer May

The Poet

The Poet

by Alicia Millar

When he talks

it's like poetry

his mouth seems to draw

the words from a colorful place

I'm the canvas on which he paints

a blank space, on these occasions we meet,

He transmits and I stretch myself across the frame

- try to make myself bigger

to catch all he says, unfiltered

I want to know what he knows,

and see what he sees

that I might reflect his kindness

a work of art

my friend

But Nothing Like the Originals

But Nothing Like the Originals

By Alicia Millar

And still I try

as the water recedes

to build again

with sand and weeds

The castles change,

throughout the day

I try so hard

to make them stay

my hands get wrinkly

my skin turns brown

I build back up

what water knocks down

I know tonight

the tide comes in

to take the life

the girl put in

While water wins,

in every trial

Still I build

Still I smile

Now With More "Better"!

Now With More "Better"!

By Alicia Millar



The TV's on,

an utter, squirting goy

misspelling in high def

for every girl and boy

Disaproval

Disapproval
by Alicia Millar

I just ate a pig.

It was brown and delicious

after its muscles and organs

stewed in its own juices.

It probably died quickly,

everyone thinks, as I apply pink

lipstick to my greasy mouth,

right there at the dinner table,

to everyone's chagrin.