Poetry By Sharon SingingMoon

       Dave Cowley CC



Overdose January 2, 2023

he left us drowning
swimming in a raging sea
his love a needle

foil wrapped pills - unknown
origin – or a bottle
stolen from Breaktime

a year or two or more - no contact
then desperate calls
“send a ticket- bus or plane
it’s raining, cold
in California
miss seeing you at Christmas
I’m tired
in jail in Indiana
in Tennessee
in Missouri
bail me out
I got beat up
my car was stolen
I’m OK
send money
can’t wait to get back on the road”

he was a good playmate -
adulthood beyond his grasp -
he loved his daughter
made a cake for her eighth birthday
loved her but not enough to save her
she found him on the floor
bloody from the face-first-fall
as he collapsed
​
did he know he was dying
somewhere between the high
& the falling
did he remember when he was young
& strong & filled with potential
before he chose the drugs
he thought set him free





Christmas Chaos

We’re happy to hear his voice on the phone
it’s been another year of wondering, worrying
he says he wants to come home for Christmas
he needs a ticket
but first, he needs a copy of his birth certificate
to get a new ID
to pick up the ticket
then he needs to be picked up
at the airport 150 miles away
he arrives at 11 pm
he missed the original flight

There is no luggage
after living on the streets
all has been lost, discarded, traded, stolen
he needs to be treated for lice
the hair buried in the garden
someone takes him shopping for clothes
he asks for money to buy gifts
we’ve learned from the past
no money will be given

He yells that no one trusts him
he curses, calls a friend, slips out
is a no-show for Christmas Eve dinner
rolls in about noon on Christmas day
shaky, smelly, red-eyed
complains about left-overs
opens the hastily gathered gifts
asks for the receipts just in case
we do not ask “where have you been?”
why spoil a perfect family gathering




Sharon SingingMoon is a poet and award-winning visual artist living in mid-Missouri. She draws inspiration from the natural world and our human struggle to balance mind/body/spirit in the face of our own hubris. In between long hikes she dabbles in screen writing and is working on a historical fiction YA novel.  Sharon has a Master’s in Public Administration and worked as a lobbyist for social justice issues, spearheading several progressive advancements in Missouri before retiring to garden, write and travel. Sharon’s work has been published in Interpretations, several volumes of Well Versed anthology, and Silver Birch Press. Her recent poetry collection, Random Seed, can be found at independent bookshops across the mid-West as well as on Amazon.

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