Author: Gypsie-Ami Offenbacher-Ferris

It sits at the end

of a street

made of dirt

Once somebody’s dream

a sweet home

and warm hearth

The windows all paneled

in bright colors galore

desiccated pieces upon the floor

Ghosts gather round

in ethereal shrouds

up and down the shabby old stairs

Patient as they wait so close

ramshackle hosts bound

to a ramshackle home

No where to go unable to roam

invisible chains hold their invisible forms

unheard cries from those so old and forlorn

In the far distance the dogs

barking their ancient songs

of families now lost and forever gone

Yard

By Ami (Gypsie) Offenbacher-Ferris

A man’s greatest challenge
is to bring life to a bare yard
A fathers greatest joy
to see his children playing there 

Against the odds of nature
into sand and soil
He plants the fertile seeds
pressing deep into the ground

No matter sand or desert
without shade or rain
Tiny shoots of tender green
delicately open to the sun

Finally reaching toward the sky
higher and higher do they climb
Only to start all over again
Mowed down by Dad’s loving hand

Please don’t stick your cold nose in my toes
Around my toes I wear nice warm
clothes
Not a furry little doggy nose
Trying to sniff and lick my pinky toes

My socks are to stay on my chilly feet
Not as chew toys for those sharp little
teeth
Socks are made to remain discreet
They are not treats I wear on my feet

That hat you have hidden under Dad’s
chair
Is Grandpa’s hat that covers his hair
It’s not your round chewy toy hiding
there
Go get that hat from beneath that chair

Mother’s scarf from India it came
She doubts she’ll ever go back again
Tearing it up is such a foolish game
Still you grabbed it and after you she
came

Come here my little rapscallion puppy
This blanket displaying a bright orange guppy
Is yours now from me all warm and
lumpy
I will always be happiest with my new puppy

Ami (Gypsie) Offenbacher-Ferris

You can’t hear me

I am speaking beneath your voice

droning on and on

a muddle of senseless prattle

You know I am speaking

You know I can hear you

You do not have to shout

and stomp about like a circus clown

I am listening to you

I can understand you

I remain stoically silent

after so many years

you notice my muteness

Your hands on my shoulders

wanting me to speak to you

I can not speak to you

speechlessness arrests my voice

invisible words of loneliness and despair

spill from my throat but you can not hear

My utterances remain without form

See my words drowning in sorrow

Hear my words ravaged by pain

Feel my words buried in heartache

Heed words mired in rhetorical anger

Why can’t you hear me?