*Waiting for Warmth

the water is running

as I stand before the mirror 

waiting for it to warm

to wash, shave and comb my hair

waiting, too, for something else

a coldness in me to go

in the light of a love

that won't run out as I grow old

in the winter a stillness stirs

my eyes pool

a spring clears my way

washing me with tear 

-Jerry Schroeder, Cap.

*After I Tie My Shoes

an island

rises 

around

a lagoon

of delicately balanced

delay

I linger there

in the surf

of the coming day

to notice how

nothing

moves

every

where

-Jerry Schroeder, Cap.