do I miss her laughing voice
yes
my heart cries out
straining to hear her call in the silence
do I miss the rose petal scent of her softness
yes
each breath aching to know her once more
do I miss the way she tossed her hair
her playful smile that said
I’m beautiful
do I miss her reaching out
to take my hand
to dance with me
in blissful oneness
yes
with every heartbeat
but mostly
I miss her whispering
lips kissing mine
mio
tio stib
struggling against sleepiness
I strain to touch you
to kiss the smile calling me
from a delirium of dreams
but you fade
slipping into moonlight mist
lost again in the scent of midnight jasmine
tio stib
at first you think
that’s strange
she must be distracted
the repeated question
the forgotten moment
it’s just not her
but things keep happening
shoes on wrong feet
pants on backwards
toilet paper wadded up in drawers
she can’t count to ten
she wants to walk over to mom’s house
but mom lives in a another country
the oddities keep coming
until
now
after days
weeks
months
of little deaths
she sits
vacant
wordless
gone
tio stib
the child stopped
looked up from her coloring book
turned
and asked her blind uncle
tio
do I need to stay inside the lines“
he stared at what he could not see
and said
how small do you want to be
she smiled
feeling free
tio stib
2015, 2025
There are doors
that want to be free
from their hinges to
fly with perfect clouds.
There are windows
that want to be
released from their
frames to run with
the deer through
back country meadows.
There are walls
that want to prowl
with the mountains
through the early
morning dusk.
There are floors
that want to digest
their furniture into
flowers and trees.
There are roofs
that want to travel
gracefully with
the stars through
circles of darkness.
Richard Brautigan, 1968
Ever since this poem by Richard Brautigan, an American counter culture poet of the turbulent 1960’s, floated through my mind, these words have been the image of my ideal American house, and I’ve even had a few homes that nearly matched this poem’s magic..
tio stib, 2016
breathing in
scents
of fallen
rose petal
secrets
Unwrapping
tied up
boxes
of lost
memories
Waiting
while tear drops
melt
the masks in the mirror
Knowing
as these layers
of delusions and illusions
melt away
my truth
is being
revealed
Tio Stib,
1995, 2018, 2025
rain hammered on the tin roof
sheeted over flooded gutters
bouncing
ricocheting
wildly dancing on the pavement
they sat alone
huddled close
in the open air cafe
holding hands
sipping wine
smiling
awed
two lovers lost on a honeymoon oasis
tio stib
in the black, eternal night
I wonder what might have been
had fate not gulped us whole
what roads would have called us on
what waves swept us off to other lands
what mountains would have echoed with our joy
what babies cooed, what friends cajoled
what rainbows would have blessed our dreams
had fate not gulped us whole
and yet
as I hold her hand so soft and still
I know the peace
of a life lived
however briefly
together
tio stib
a poem by Shel Silverstein (1930-1999)
There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
and there the grass grows soft and white
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.
Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.
Yes we’ll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we’ll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.
by Shel Silverstein, 1974
When I start slipping into seriousness, I turn to Shel Silverstein to lighten up. Reading his poems with kids is better than blowing bubbles on San francisco’s BART train.
Want more fun? Watch this link on YouTube-
Enjoy!
tio stib
there is no happy
without sad
there is no good
without bad
there is no high
without low
there is no stop
without go
there is no wrong
without right
there is no dark
without light
there is no courage
without fear
there is no far
without near
there are no tears
without smiles
there is no distance
without miles
there is no quiet
without din
there is no out
without in
there is no wild
without tame
there is no different
without same
there is no peace
without strife
such are the facts
of daily life
and from these truths
I choose my fate
I will be love
and without hate
tio stib
2015, 2022, 2025
