I’m the flower pinned to a party wallI’m the violet that always shrinksI’m hardly the life of anythingIt’s a bit…
No Such Thing as Even Days
Every slice of frozen timeHeld up to the examining lightHold your place in itWith a wrinkling index fingerAnd crooked bonedWhile…
Accustomed
I have grown built to wait silentlyTo be played with by someoneA green Army man with green rifleStanding on his…
Life Cycle
When I was a kid in HonoluluEvery funeral in town it seemedInvolved a huge motorcadeThat moved by in slow motion…
How did this cliché become a cliché?
If you’ve ever said that X is/was refreshingAnd you meant it seriouslyI wasn’t there to hear itAnd don’t actually know…
Ocean Meditation
A dazed light reflectionSun glinting on its fast free runUnleashed across the sky refractionArc of a bright bird winging onTo…
The Pink Piggy Bank
The gold sun slipsInto the thin horizon lineAnother day spentNot paid for but savedFilling a memory bankGrowing fatWith another coin…
Crapshoot
Marriage is on the tableReady to risk a rollComeA lot of actionAll sevensYou’re in heavenPerfect harmonyFeeling lucky as elevensOr don’t…
The Muse Knocks
While raking the yardI wonder what I mightWrite about today My neighbor’s black catBig BoyTears across my path And I…
Purchased for Research Purposes
They’re handcuffsCalled “wrist restraints”Made of leatherHe adds a “scandal flogger”Wonders about the tickle and the stingBuys these two for nowThey…
I Would Die for You
My love for you is a little likeA red, red rose — and moreIt’s a tornado in my brainEverything whirling…
Down and Gone
The first step out of thereFailing to memorize ten Bible versesOn every bus ride to confirmation classHumming rock songs in…
To Move On
She writes magic and wind sweepall graceful and rising angel voicesand as always in golden hoursshe sings herself most comfortin…
Small-Talk
You know I’m horrible at small-talkThis is what it’s like when it’s my turnHow I want to say something to…
My Publications
Here’s a link to my Amazon Author’s site: https://www.amazon.com/author/lanninglee Sketches from the Hawaiian Archipelago, a collection of short stories So Very…
Toward a Better End
He rarely restedHardly treadedSwam forwardPushing throughA thickening waterWearing out his arms and legsWeaving through uneven lanesCurve and swerveInching aheadTo touch…
Ending with a Hawaiian Curse
accio remotecontroleobombardia caralarmia changeio stoplightia a-t-m-ium dispenseoauto washnwaxiusdoggywalkumbosseo avoidame alldeitodeimowius lawnius et hedgesgo trimio loseameum sum weightogopopum cornium et saltio plus butterumsnooziam buttoniam…
He Wove Magic
He fought as a flyweight in his Wisconsin college daysSkinny, yes, but a vicious tacticianGrowing up on Kaua‘i, his nickname…
How the Riff-Raff Celebrate Aloha Friday
Friday nights, pau hanaAt an unnamed venueA group plays traditional Hawaiian musicThe crowds come in drovesJam the inside seating areaJam…
All Is But Toys
Last Monday I did what I always doSettled now into my retirement routineI woke up, for which I’m thankful every…
Lanning Lee 