By Amy Simone Piller
Who dreams in Nike commercials
and asked me to write him a poem
Whose smile reminds me of Lebron James
and slam dunks classroom doorframes
Who in one year alone has gone
from little boy to built
still sorting out how people react to him
He would like for this poem to rhyme
but it is not that simple
or I am simply too [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
Everyone is someone’s
daughter. Forever we walk
like toddlers small
wiser than looks
fumbling forward
full with hope
And then one day
your mother was gone
no longer watching you
baby cake walk along
And yet there she is
in the way you walk
in the way you flounce
the way you amble
the way you dance
each step informed
by who she was
and so forth onwards
you go on
Reading to your [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
After work staring
a construction worker on the roof of the school across the street
drifts my thoughts to the not pattern of my splattered coffee
the dirty cup on my desk rests in my mind
(moment  of take a break, sit down, stalks on)
Break what?
Not respond to the mother
with cervical cancer
who called
to the quiet that fell in the [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
Like being sick
without sickness
the world slow
temporarily sky
like there is body
suddenly a cramp a coming
a leaf a tree a not sidewalk
a cover up to uncover
twigs dance
winded in relation to
not relationship
inundation
world spinning
overtaken
where is
that to do list
dug up
old bottomers
to send to write
to not lose
in priority
to snow shoe still
down 7th avenue
to ski to laugh
to be not bound
to rigid routine
to [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
I wake up cranky in the morning
and sneer through the shower to peppy music
I’ve self-inflicted as brighten up regimen;
I threaten to call home on an ESL student
because she won’t speak and I just know
she understands more English than that;
A parent says to me “It’s so nice to see you;
You always wear the funniest things,â€
and I [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
He drew two green mountains
with a sunshine
and shot a gun
thank everything
there is no blood
Babe Ruth said “Never
let the fear of striking out
get to you.â€
He said “I’m gonna focus
do better in school
stay out of violence.â€
His friend said “You better
keep that resolution
I don’t wanna be the one
to tell your father
you got shot.â€
I had a dream
last night
every black [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
to bring into actuality; effect.
that assignment that I did
the Spanish homework worksheet
the math problem
solution
Who’s actuality?
What effect?
air has mass you’ve discovered
in lab how does it weigh
on your shoulders
you will not look at your work
tattered notebook page
you evade look away
I will not pity you
fix it fix it fix it
it’s the only way
to carry out (an order for [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
“You have the rest of your life to create the future, but less time than you realize to create yourself.†– Kevin Carey
Urgency and acceptance
a cup of tea in hand a shriek
the sounds of laughter
the rumblings of an insane asylum
the light outside on every leaf
the fall
the fall
the tension of tripping
the rebalance
the kiltering
whose faces will be
in [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
Varying by situation and person
plus corners, directionals
children and trying to explain
life is not simply ethics
or a college course gone awry
people’s lives hinge on listening
we take corners, we take to our sheets
we hide when too much is demanded all at once
confluence has its way with us
follow sugar on your tongue when you taste it
take the cues [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
May the etymology of thanks
repay you forward
granting every sensation you give
yours to small spoon
like secret bites of ice cream
fed to you
for the fortunate who fall
beneath your shade
may they backboard you
gentle and firm
follow-through
Thank you
as a noun as a tangible
as a please know
a bene placito
you deserve the world