Poems
by Diane
Webster
The Car Man
The car man was a master.
Each wreck he had a vision;
each wreck he hammered,
sanded, painted into a masterpiece
revived by the car man’s touch.
The car man’s reputation flourished
like a wizard’s charm throughout
where men in automobile circles
sought his services
as the best car man in the land.
The car man created pedal cars
from rust, rubber tubing,
metal bent to perfection
with the car man’s hands,
the car man’s imagination.
The car man was a master.
The car man was our dad.
Pier Distance
The wooden pier rides off into the sunset.
One side of the rails corrals pedestrians;
the other side free ranges, beckons
push, fall, leap into the lake water
splashes, ripples, swallows the entrance
no one discovers gone.
Darkness massages the pier
into naught except a barefoot faith
strolling, trolling one hand
along the rail –
hears, sees, touches
for sound, sight, texture change
if the rail or pier finishes first.
Lake Debris
Driftwood collects
debris into lake coves
of stagnant current
like filing thoughts
no longer wanted
to float
down the main channel.
Hope is … a drought
will abandon the detritus
above the shore line
in moisture-sucking
bleach on beaches
until fossilized
it sinks, submerges,
out of sight, out of mind.
Stone Lake
Over time the lake fills
with stones –
perfect flat rocks yield
a record seventeen skips;
weighty stones barely lifted
overhead tossed onto the frozen
surface crack
ice or punch an ice hole
to claim “he-man” status.
Wimps litter frozen
lake with pebbles
to compete and show shame
scattered on top for all to see
until the thaw swallows stones
to the bottom settling higher.
Over time the lake sign reads,
“Stone Lake,” a tumor
of rocks abandoned to the sun
and heat waves washing ashore.
On The Verge
Distance mirages the water
where whales breach
clouds with blue splashes,
and the smell of rain
tricks your nose into believing
so your ears swear
thunder rumbles.
The dried lake bed flourishes
jigsaw puzzle pieces
of mud shrinking
away from each other --
bleached bones
escape the cartilage
holding them together
in skeletal wholeness.
