Bedtime Story

read me a story mama,
one with bad bears
and a sleeping princess

one with a ballerina
forced into the gutter

leave out the commas
and the counting numbers

put in george washington
and his soldiers
freezing a valley forge

leave out electricity
and time-sharing computers

but put in the boy
who rain away in the rain
without an umbrella
to live with the gypsies

At a Loss for Words

rain,
mumbling in monotone,
makes me wonder:
how long i can endure
silence
between thunder?