Tara Collins

Acrostic for a Lover’s Day

Venus, of course, has no arms, And Mona Lisa turns out to have been a man. Lots of Marylin’s have come & gone since then, Even, despite the oxymoron, one Madonna. Not withstanding them, the Classic Helen, and Medieval Heloise, The Dark Lady, Browning’s Barrett, and Poe’s Anabelle, Immortal Leda, Gatsby’s Daisy, and the rest,Continue reading “Acrostic for a Lover’s Day”

The Seeds of Purgatory are Regret

Indifferent as God I plant this stand of irises along the wall of our foundation. Transplants from a ravaged bed driveway traffic forced to move, they’ve spent a season in the dry, brown paper bag in our garage. That dark despair, their purgatory, leads to ressurection here if faith redeems them, and my wife isContinue reading “The Seeds of Purgatory are Regret”

The Marriage Pool

New dumping stopped, old toxins settling out, the marriage pool clears down its watery syncline by degrees, and though no bottom can be seen subsurface fogs of old debris are thinning and the bleached remains no longer float up unsuspecting as we kneel through our reflections to appall, and though no slick and slender troutContinue reading “The Marriage Pool”

Marry Like Rock Stars on the Road

For Jessica and Alex Live your marriage like a band on tour and let the tedious bus hours of the longest ride be Grammy Moments gathered by the mile. Play as you ride, not for the money or the fame, but because the music that you make sweetens everything you do. Don’t spare your praiseContinue reading “Marry Like Rock Stars on the Road”

Marriage is Not a Sometimes Thing

Marriage is not a sometimes thing.Married is married, twenty-four seven.There are no time-outs when it’s hell,and no do-overs when it’s heaven. It can’t stopped once it’s begun,laws and lawyers notwithstanding.It’s not a frolic or a club,that cuts all ties by just disbanding. It’s not a job that you can quit,or a vacation never-ending.It’s storm andContinue reading “Marriage is Not a Sometimes Thing”

Only Four of Us in Bed

At first, there are only four of us in bed, my You, and your You, your Me, and Mine. We are like rabbits hidden in the trees of a child’s puzzle; half of us are obvious, half are invisible. The four of us would make a great couple if there were not six of us.Continue reading “Only Four of Us in Bed”

Marriage is a Church We Build

For Chad & Mariann Marriage is a church we build to worship one another in and like cathedrals put up over time each day adds buttresses and vivid glass, a beam shaved smooth, or a lock rock dropped in an arch’s apex, defying Physics, making stone hang curved in empty space. Marriage is full ofContinue reading “Marriage is a Church We Build”

Young Girl Contemplates Marriage

My dog would be a perfect cat, if he could just meow, he’ll love to do that for me, once I can teach him how. He will not want to eat all day or spend the day in bed or follow growling always like he needs to be fed. I’ll take him to my girlfriend’sContinue reading “Young Girl Contemplates Marriage”

Snow White’s Mother’s Curse

Perhaps it was the pain of a child three days in coming, or the final realization that the coming would kill her, that brought the curse to the lips of the dying queen, but queens are made queens by beauty and both beauties and queens are vain by nature, so the dying queen must haveContinue reading “Snow White’s Mother’s Curse”

The Werewolf’s Dotage

The werewolf is pushing seventy. When he is a wolf, his coat is whitening almost past transparency with bare spots that look like the mange. When he is a man, he has no hair at all. His gums are receding, and his teeth are loose; he is afraid they would come out if he bitContinue reading “The Werewolf’s Dotage”