On this page: Bricolage, Mask, and All the Day's Receipts
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    Bricolage

It’s all just common stuff
of everyday – bits
And pieces –- bric-a-brac,
paddy-whack -- memories
Of childhood games, best
friends, dreams, hopes
Plans for a future that never
quite arrives but keeps
Circling high above – just
out of reach – a tune
That returns again and again
but never quite ends. 
    -- Verlene Schermer


© Copyright 1997 Verlene Schermer
All Rights Reserved


    Mask

The mask I wear
is made of glass.
A window to my feelings,
or a mirror to yours.

 Depending on where 
you stand, on how
You see it,

 And on how
the light hits.

    -- Verlene Schermer


© Copyright 1997 Verlene Schermer
All Rights Reserved


    All the Day's Receipts

All the day’s receipts
have been caught up
In a taunting whirlwind
Important pieces of my life
go swirling out just beyond
Arm’s reach. I grab
frantically, hysterically
But the wind only increases
with each wild movement.
In my hands, I hold the answer
I slip the knot, toss the noose
High into the air
The whirlwind catches the loop
and spirals it out, larger
And wider – until it encircles
all that I cannot
Reach. Gently, softly,
Firmly, I lasso in 
all the pieces of my life –
All the day’s receipts. 
    -- Verlene Schermer


© Copyright 1997 Verlene Schermer
All Rights Reserved


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