Lesley S. King

I used to think love blossomed in an edgy brilliance like those thistle flowers too prickly to touch and then surely eaten by night rabbits.   But then the Beloved took my hand and flew me into a hurricane the cool blooming chaos of my dreams.   All my worst fears swirled there in the […]

I concentrate to play each note right Pluck the base, strum the treble. Focus on the beat, one-two-three-four. Oh, but don’t forget the syncopation!   Then comes the arpeggio: Fingers move so fast they crash into each other!   And of course the words: I must sing in tune and remember the harmony.   Ahhh—I […]

How would I ever get home if not for this road with all its potholes?   Sometimes I scream in the dark when my headlights aren’t bright enough to light the way.   Or when fog and icy rain lead me to follow random taillights into ditches and even over cliffs.   Or when road blocks […]

I thumb through the photo album. There I am in at age six wearing a Sunday plaid suit. Defiant, I dart my tongue at the camera.   In high school, a pudgy face and body from boarding school starch, I slouch in the Y of a tree.   In college, tan, golden hair, I fondle […]

She stands with her back to the cliff edge camera poised arm’s length capturing the indigo sky and craggy canyon below.   She moves her head into the frame, poses just right eyes wide to disguise an intruding brow, daring smile to impress friends.   Tilting the camera to capture more she inches back and […]

You walk along the road, sun warm on your cheeks love sparkling in your eyes, as you know where you’re going.   From a side street that handsome one with chocolate brown eyes and lips made for kissing gestures you over, envelops you in a hug.   This is the love you’ve been waiting for! […]

Like lovers attracted by forces beyond their control the sun and moon magnetize.   As they merge, the dusky moon overlaps the persimmon sun— a bite from an apple.   Then darkness— all goes quiet, the robins silent the squirrels still.   Totality.   The corona appears, rainbow edges and a golden, radiant halo.   […]

If I could travel back to that moment when I accepted that seductor’s invitation and instead simply say, “No thank you,” saving me a world of hurt…   If I could go back to that dinner in Africa and not eat that amoeba that stayed in my belly, stealing my strength for decades…   If I […]

The lizard lifts high on his legs and sprints alongside your bike. His pointed nose and yellow stripes blur, as he churns up the dust. The raven swoops low over your shoulder. Her wings say whoosh, whoosh as she breaks open the sky. The water spider skates on an invisible membrane. His Martian shadow dances […]

  The dog you rescued with a scar on her brow  wags her tail and looks up at you, dark eyes shining mouth curved in a little smile.   But that lonely road where you found her limping stays branded on her heart.   In a tough moment, as she huddles in the corner wrapped in […]