Timothy L. Rodriguez- Three Poems

Wisteria

Bright and broad as a boulevard
It cuts and runs the width of spring,
On wings of paschal purple
A tint rivaled only by the cloth
Twined simply across the crucifix.
Yet Lenten passions and bliss blossoms
Subside, but the vines continue to grow
Till they overwhelm with crushing weight.


Fabric

Having piled pine
On yellow horizon
Our soon to be grist
Gleaned in lay loneliness.
The land was flat
And hot and dusty,
Especially after troops
Of white linen soldiers
Tramped our fields
Till the uniforms grayed
And the enemy in blue
Never knew the true
Color of the fabric
It tore so misbegotten.

 
Ashes in Eden

Is the smell of coffee
My only reason to get up?

Unlike the morning glory
I have a choice.
I am disinclined
To start up my eyes.

Is the smell of coffee
The only good to claim?

All in all, my fallen faith
Put good in front of riddance,
So why get up? I can pray
Here as well as in church.

Is it coaxing of the caffeine
That insists I smoke?

Actually the insisting is daylight.
I remain tucked undercover
Knowing I can love my wife
As easily here as anywhere.

Is it the brewer beeping
Or could it be the phone?

Either or both or neither,
They can all simply wait until...
Until I am, and I might never be;
Certainly not outside this bed.

Has the aroma gotten stronger
Or is that my juiced-up odor?

The smell may never leave
As we never left Eden;
It grew so large we lost
All understanding; our sins are as acres.

So why even bother
Making morning coffee?

I make more than coffee.
I construct reasons for who I want to be.
Today I am Eden, only in parts.
Wandering among God’s lost remarks.



Timothy L Rodriguez was a journalist when newspapers counted, he is a poet when poetry doesn’t count for much, and he is a novelist when the fate of fiction is uncertain. He has published in English and Spanish. His novel—Guess Who Holds Thee?—is available on Amazon. His fiction and poetry has appeared in dozens of national and international journals. His most recent novel—Never Is Now—has been serialized in the UK at www.newlondwriters.com