Patti Masterman Poems

Slumber easy, slumber light:
Snow falls upon a winter’s night.
The winter days, they are so fleet;
Too soon, the snowflakes change to sleet.
...

I breathe in the spirit of Christmas past
Again, unpacking those familiar things:
Through several generations, they have passed-
Of love, loss, and magic, they richly sing.
...

My husband's going to live forever;
Was just a random act of fate-
But he promised he would leave me never,
And my love never repudiate.
...

Mannequins wear the latest fashions
And statues have the best physiques
So, models lives are filled with passion?
(At least that's the current going mystique)
...

My dog is an archive of canine esprit:
Rich in dog years, the repository and catalog
Of so much genetic wisdom, in fur, flesh and bone:
Mitochondrial inheritance of his cells
...

What if you went to communion
And you swallowed the Host
But found that God was way too tall
To stand up then, inside of you?
...

As the leaves go flinging
The chill winds stinging
The windows steaming
The stores are teeming
...

Maybe Christmas hides out during the other sundry weeks of the year-
Could it be that, it cat-naps inside the walls, and hangs, bat-like,
From the attic rafters, waiting while it collects itself
To leap, a la flea-style, onto your winters clothing,
...

Dear Dad
Listen, after you left us
I had this little game I used to play
To stay sane: I pretended
...

And his poems have other poems
Hidden, camouflaged inside them, as through the holocaust
Men hid within other men's homes, and workplaces,
And women within other women's closets, and dressing rooms
...