The following two poems I have submitted to CSUB's spring publication featuring poems on the theme of California's flora and fauna. I chose the kit fox and the oleander. Kit Fox It flickers across the field Swiftly moving As if its feet don't even touch the ground...

He sits sipping thick mushroom soup Barrel-chested with stocky legs In shorts with socks and sandals His bald pate like a shiny egg With compact stature From leaping out of planes Carrying a parachute on his back Invading Granada Attacking in Iraq “There's nothing...

She stretches and wiggles Clinging to her mother's knee Gaping at the saucer-sized cookies In the refrigerator case Her eyes are a-gog Suddenly she spies my cookie And, quick as a flash, She prances over and takes a bite Smiling at me A total stranger But keeper of...

The afternoon sunlight highlights her brunette hair cascading over her brow and falling over one shoulder She absently pulls her fingers through the tangled strands as she frowns at the physics textbook before her The figures spin and intertwine like the knots in her...

She sits in the back corner of the cafe Like a well-worn fifth edition Of the Betty Crocker Cookbook Greasy paged, notes scribbled in the margins Open to the recipe for tater-tot casserole And how to stretch hamburger To feed a hungry family Only now the children are...

I wrote this poem after reconnecting with a friend over Easter vacation.  I have been struggling to write a poem about her for years...it finally flowed. Coffee Cafe Customers:  The Quilter My old friend sits at the table like a lump of dough. The discontent rises...

Coffee Cafe Customers: The Jock His athletic build bursts from the confines of his fragile cafe chair Like the bulging, cloth-bound collection Of models in twisting poses Drawn by Leonardo Swift pen marks capture The essence of movement His legs protrude From satin...

Coffee Cafe Customers: The Hippie He stands erect with a white wizard beard and long snowy hair neatly pulled back in a band. He is wearing a crisp linen shirt and creased khaki pants and burnished cowboy boots. He looks like a leather-bound collector's edition of Rip...