Indian Style

INDIAN STYLE

the porch, in front
near roses,
near metal milk crates
above colored slate
from Vermont – is where
she sits – Indian Style,
on top of pieces of
wood, warped, and
gray paint peeling

the porch near two
doors leading to
two families in a
city, on a corner lot
in a city filled with
children who played,
played – as she watched.
where she
smiled when a friend
walked by, a friend one
day –

sitting Indian Style
she smiled once more
when another friend walked
by – near hedges
lining the property,
her feet
touched cement, her head
looked straight ahead –

legs crossed Indian
style on the porch
where fingers picked
at pieces of wood
covered in gray paint,
a smile on her face
one stray tear rolled
down her face,
caught the edges of
her lip, where a
smile – remained

scooting over to the
right, toward the
metal milk box,
she opened the lid
and there – inside
where paper dolls
were stored inside,
she saw her friends
smile back.

Nancy Duci Denofio
2011(c) all rights reserved

Capsule in the Forest

Capsule in the Forest


A single tree
breathes in the
forest like
a benign tumor -

Bacteria wiped
out the mountain -
A fungus spread
from limb to limb
sparing one single tree.

A capsule,
for a new beginning,
the cordial for a forest.

Nancy Duci Denofio
(c)all rights reserved

~Johnny Depp music video~

The Retired Man

Dare - I open the drape. . .
Oh yes - light -
excites me - as you lay at
peace, sleeping.
Sleeping - extending night.

I close the drape - leave -
to run along a shore where
toes are kissed by white
lace - where salt water shifts
shells or swallows them for
another day - in and
out. . .

Here - I listen - I smell sea
air - feel the dampness on my
face - while you sleep as if
you were a retired man
from the red and white motel -

but - he too awakes as sunlight
changes the color of the sky
a sudden pink horizon. . .
He walks around his property,
and sweeps cigarette butts
off a faded - chipped -
redwood deck. . . his feet
shuffle in morning light.

How gentle are the waves, as
sea gulls play - as if
attached to strings - begging.

The old man - he must have
planned this day, as once a
dream, attending to his
property.

To be here, to be sitting -
resting - closer to me. . .
Closer to where my feet play -
and sink in sand -

The retired man stares at dawn
as a smile lines his face, the
coming of a new day. Perhaps -
remembering yesterday - when
his red and white motel was
filled with company. . .

His bald head - tanned - pants
rolled above his knees, a pot
belly rests -
on his thighs. . .
His eye's. . . see more than you
who sleeps extending night.

He tosses yesterdays
garbage - inside a brown
paper bag, resting at his feet -
scatters it across
a brilliant sky -

Sea gulls flock - flap to
applaud - kiss his hand.
The retired man, he knows when
day is day, and sleeps at night
when sea gulls fade.


(c)all rights reserved
Nancy Duci Denofio

NIGHT SHADOWS

Night Shadows

endless white lines
drawn lightly on asphalt
casting a touch of
moonlight,
dropping designs -
limbs of a tree
as our headlight's
pass

so softly, light
disturbs night -

slices of slate near
ice blue water -
a single orange cone
over a ridge,
a carnival,
a flare of lights -
sirens heard. . .

steep – a mountain –
light will not filter
through a mass of trees,
snuggled on a mountain
top - where
paths are lonely, limbs
destroyed by a mighty
wind - spheres of light

talk on dotted lights
brighter then before -
flashing red - off and on. . .
one side of this mountain
closed - slowly now - I
glance to my right and
stare at slate

ice blue water - run
down its side, a sun
swallowed yesterday.


Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved @2011

A SMILE LINES YOUR FACE

A Smile Lines Your Face

At night - trapped
space - I lay awake,
lift my head
to watch you as you
sleep.

Black hair - thinner now,
your beard rough, and
your eyes closed.

Peacefulness surrounds
me as your eyes flutter;
probably dreaming.
A smile lines your face.

My eyes close -
I know I am safe.

Nancy Duci Denofio
2007 @all rights reserved

ABOVE the WORLD

ABOVE THE WORLD

One morning on my way to school,
I reached on tip toes toward a ledge
below the window where Mama kept
her orange pills – the window faced
Seneca Street – Mama always watched
when I ran across the market lot to
fetch the correct tuna or the right
American bread – she stared until I
crossed Seneca Street, holding what
she told me to buy at the big market.

Don’t know why I took her bottle of
orange pills early on a school day,
to shove into my pocket of a freshly
starched dress, pink with flowers.

Behind Grandmother’s bushes near
red beans where I made mud pies, I
removed the top – it popped right off.
All those orange pills stared at me,
as if they had every like all those people
in our neighborhood.

First, I glanced to the upstairs window
making sure Grandmother was still
praying on her knees – so I chew one –
chewed it – then I chew another, and
another.

I left the bushes and began my walk to
school, first past Charlie’s Grocery
store; everyone said it will close soon
because of the big market. But old
Charlie was sitting in his rocker still
chewing on his cigar – he pretended he
never saw me.

My walk down Avenue A toward my
school only one block but filled with
Mamas who never worked, that’s when
I noticed one pounded her rug with
a broom on the upper porch. I pretended
I didn’t see her, turned to hide behind
the old oak trees which once lined
streets here in our neighborhood
Mama’s friend never looked my way –
as I peeked around the tree chewing
one more orange pill, and then another
and another.

I took another orange pill from the jar,
and chewed it – glancing back toward
the lady pounding the rug, she looked
funny, kind of blurred, kind of foggy.

Into the pocket of the pink flowered
dress, I shoved Mama’s pills. I knew
it was time to be in school.

You see, I thought I took enough
to live.

“Twinkle - Twinkle Little Star”

Humming the song to myself, leaning
my head against the push out window
of our Studebaker,

“How I wonder what you are?”

I began to draw stick figures as if they
were me, drawing fast and rubbing it
drawing and rubbing it, over and over
rubbing it until it was clean – breathing
rubbing – breathing harder – rubbing
of our Studebaker - rubbing it clean –
breathing – rubbing – breathing – rubbing
and drawing, erasing it – exhaling,
breathing, drawing, and erasing it

“Up above the world so high”
I believe it was my first time to fly.

Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved @2011

TAP DANCING

Tap Dancing


so annoying
as a little girl
tap danced
on the floor,
same step
two hours or more
never noticed
beads on
glass
sweat on hands
pane
of a window cried

tap dancing


Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved @2011

DON'S WHEAT FIELD

DON’S WHEAT FIELD

The path out of his small village
to reach wheat fields -
began - at the square; Great
Grandpa probably talked to
his donkey before climbing
a mountain before sunrise.
He probably rubbed the
donkey’s back before draping
cloth over him with sacks,
still empty.

I would guess - as he climbed
up on the donkey’s back, and
he stopped to gaze to his right -
where a glorious sun creped
out of the sea, and changed the
color of his world.

I would guess, when the sea
transformed from purple,
as water – flashing,
flutters different shades –
pink, followed by a beautiful
aqua sea -
He stood still for a few seconds -
Only a few seconds - a Don
may be watching – but not
at a magnificent - beautiful sea.

In the distance, if he glanced
over the mountain’s edge, he
would see the Aeolian Islands.

Francisco - picked wheat,
filled sacks, walked his donkey
to a stone hut - placed wheat
beneath shade under a hut for
Big Shots to pick up, for the
Big Shots to make into flour –
Bigger Shots took this
flour to market...

Back and forth,
as the sun grew larger day’s
end arrived – Francisco with
his donkey walked down the
mountain, he would glance to
his left -
a sun falling into orange,
red and violet water –
colored as if geranium bushes,
oranges, and lemons of the land –
colors soaking back into the sea,
tinting the sky a beautiful shade of
purple really was not land...

He fed his donkey
walked home to his wife, Santa
to wait for the Don to collect his
slips, one Don, one account, as
the man walked from house to
house – within his village, it was
his village, those who lived there
only slept there – made enough
for their family, as chickens crept
through open doors; Santa, she
fed them scraps while Francisco
never slept - never had much, but
he had his family, on a corner of
the square – his donkey resting
for another day.

Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved
@2010

FEW PEOPLE PASS THIS WAY

FEW PEOPLE PASS THIS WAY


passed a man who smiled
at me today
and wondered why?
Smiles are so precious
when they arrive

as morning light seeps
into my room -
not long before I am
here alone -

and as daylight swarms
above my head -
I wonder what I did
and wonder what the
night shall bring?

passed a woman laughing
today
and wondered why?
I too - wanted to laugh -
laughter is so precious
when laughter is heard

as night comes through
my window of my life
I think of what I did -
here all alone?

and so the night brings
but the end of another
day
as I close my eyes and
still see nothing -
change

Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved

SEEDS OF LIFE

SEEDS OF LIFE

I have planted for you -
my love of words
but you ignore me
with a focus far
away - you kiss a
stone as if you
never knew me

I have tried to plant seeds
to grow - in your direction
so you too would see how
pleasant - life could be

I have fallen - on you when
you have fallen first –
but if I fell - you too
would only plant a curse

I have grown like rings
of a tree – reaching for
a height where I can see

but I still know –
seedlings grow

Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved

THE NIGHT BEFORE published in What Brought You Here

THE NIGHT BEFORE

A glorious red balloon
it's how he told me
my mouth felt.

The night before he left
he stared at flesh -
no words exchanged
he wanted me to think
kissing was good, and
took his fingers, closed
my eyelids, told me
"It was alright to breathe."

Wondered if men gave
out candy here?

The wrong he did was so . . .
casual for him -
as if he took apart another
puzzle - so singular

People say birds are exotic -
he compared me to a bird.
Wondered if I could have flown?

A bird twists silently out from
its' nest of twigs.

My body settled into summer.
Birds gathered at a feeder -
I feel stillness all so ordinary,
suddenly you are naked -
thinking, the entire
world sees you pass

It is morning and I am again,
alone.

I think of how birds
flew - out there, in the open.

Nancy Duci Denofio
published - What Brought You Here
June 2010 page 17

Mineral Baths

Mineral Bath

She covered her private
parts at the bath house.
Mineral water filled a tub,
centuries old.
She felt cold until
an old women handed
her heated sheets -
covering skin.
The woman brought her clips to
lift her auburn hair.
The sheets cooled as the
tub filled.
A stray cat
peered into the window -
purred, kissing glass.
The old women
removes the sheets, grabs the
arm of a young lady - she carefully
steps into aged porcelain.
Tiny bubbles
surround her skin.
A soft pillow for her head;
now, relaxed.
Dreaming she said, “Of a
cat kissing glass,
alone, at last."

Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved

THE MONSTER DIED

The Monster Died is based on Industrial Cities in America, and this is specific to Schenectady NY when the General Electric Company moved much of its operation to other parts of the country, although they have shifted gears with the times, industry moving from large cities is still a cause for change because it was the butter and bread. I congratulate General Electric Company for all the work they have done for others and health care in our Country, and for their contribution to arts and entertainment. I hope you enjoy the relation between a (then) middle class American Family - and the Monster.
--------------------------------------

The Monster Died

she was a big girl, so – you
wouldn’t take another look,
back then, when guys
were always ready -

right on that corner, she’d
stand, her fat bust’ in
out of her top, think’ in she’s
sexy, not knowing
boys put her name on a list –
one of the homely ones to
pray over -

when she stood at the
corner, boys said it never
needed a stop sign - everyone
stared at the fat girl -
she’d give the finger -

Now she's skin and
bones - lives far from
the city - became some kind
of health care aide, but bet
cha she steals pills -
kind like when she stuffed
girdles and bras into a bag -
I was left holding; after she
fed me a Hot Fudge Sundae.

That, was the last time
I went shopping with a fat
girl - Mama told me she
was too big for me -
knowing Mama, she was talking
about her age.

It isn’t the same, the
neighborhood,
and the monster stopped
growing - Papa said,
“The city will die…”

One after another – car after
car - cars with crank out
windows, running boards,
white walls, all stalling out
in one long line - waiting
for the whistle from the
monster - signaling another
work day.

The whistle feeds all the
mouths, helps plant gardens
and educate children -
pay the mortgage.

The monster owns people,
where I were was born the
Monster paid for the holster
and Dale Evans pistol for my
brother… filled the cookie jar,
and gave us enough money
for a parakeet.

The men whom sat in the
board room on the second
floor - just past the ladies room
and under the chandelier,
in front of a wood burning
fireplace, near the maple coat
tree - ran the monster –
or, the monster ruled them.

When the whistle sounded
the city became as weird
as computerization – it moved
together – stop lights longer,
cross walks crowded and
people marching down the
boulevard as ants in perfect
lines -

no one in the city worried,
it was built - cared for by
giants - and the giant ran
the world – built home town
monsters.

Papa and all the Papas in the
city practically dipped
themselves into chemical
baths - now buried nuclear
waste - empty corn fields
never really empty - never
just grass, or tumble weeds
nestled adjacent to the railroad,
and across from another giant
on the other side of town.

No one thought about disease
or the environment - all they
cared about was if the monster
survived, so would they.

So growing up the boys all
thought the fat girl was the
monster - they found out
differently, when
the real monster died.

Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved

MOTEL EIGHT

MOTEL EIGHT

Sunlight, dark inside
a wall of light -
sun sleeps at the horizon
Motel Eight – an asphalt
roof begins to shine -

empty chairs of winter
awkward angles -
rippling of water,
Santa Ana winds. . .
a vacuum,
a cleaning woman
a TV on but
never knew about a plane
circling above…
ethnic tongue
shoulders shrug

parking lots lined
with white trucks
morning breakfast

a quarter to eight
a thinning crowd of
women in capris –
sleeveless -
capturing a January sun
a naked pool -
maintenance,
a rap at the door -

bedding held above
her head she
squeezes past a
potted plant –
pot smokers near
a door - past a woman,
seven decades older
with yellow bleached
blond hair…
smoked finger
nails, and toes in need
of clipping.
Wears thick spectacles
of white, and gives
directions.

A ball of heat is rising
touching a red tiled roof
flashing specs of white
on top of asphalt
no vacancy
flashes into
the eastern sky
a plane circles
a TV tells about a
missing child
but no one seems
to care.

Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved

NO ONE CAME TO VISIT

NO ONE CAME TO VISIT

no one came with flowers
no one came with pink
balloons or candy
no one brought pink dresses
to fit a new born –

mother, she knew

no one believed
or wanted to see a child
who entered this world
a little over a pound. . .
medical men told her,
“She won’t survive the
night.”

mother, she knew

she knew when two men
visited
she knew only one – but
knew of the other
one man sat to her right
one man to her left.

those visitors did not
bring balloons or candy
or a pink dress for their
new grand daughter –
a baby who would fit into
their palm

a baby with tubes in
temples –
a body to small and
needles too large

both men died before
the birth of her child

her father spoke to her,
her father in law
listened. . .

“Don’t worry she will
survive and make you
proud.”

medical men entered
her room and mother
smiled.
medical men warned
her babies this small
do not survive –

mother, she knew –

daddy entered, she smiled.
told him their little girl
would survive
he pulled a chair up to her
bed, held her hand, and
listened

he probably smiled back
he must have warned her
to face the truth
mother, stubborn,
she believed

a few days passed, and
the medical men told her
again –
a week went by, and she
smiled
two weeks, and the medical
men stopped talking of
death –

mother peered through
glass at her baby –
lying inside a metal box –
inside with tubes and monitors
with no one to touch a child’s
grey skin.

She watched as a chest
was forced to expand
she prayed to herself –
she waved good bye -
thanking the medical men –
telling them she would be back

every day – to watch a child
who barely opened her eyes

there was no touching,
or cuddles, no wrapping
of tiny fingers around a her own,
no legs kicking, or laughing
when a child yawned, thinking
it was a smile

no one talked about their
little girl –
no one asked about the color
or her hair – her eyes or her
personality
no one asked if she looked
like mother or father . . .
no one talked.

mother, she believed

every day – from summers
end into dead leaves of fall
and onto ice on city walks,
she too walked up a hill
to the hospital to stare
through glass –
her walk home, eyes filled
with tears, she recited an
Irish prayer

every day after work
father walked up the hill
to stare at his child he
could not hold –
laying naked inside a metal
bed with tubes still
attached to her forehead.

he watched as nurses
tapped the soles of her
feet – to keep her awake
to suck on a miniature
bottle – she began to eat

It was the day before
Christmas - a snow
filled sky – when news
arrived – she could come
home.

three months and ten
days after her birth
she weighed five pounds

nurses wrapped her
in tiny booties
a white undershirt
a small pink dress
snuggled up inside pink
blankets

with open arms mother
held her little girl
peered into her open eyes
pinched her little hands
and feet

mother, she knew

on Christmas day inside a
neighbor’s car they brought
their little girl home

she looked at my father
and said, “I told you so,
she would survive.”

and, there beneath a
Christmas tree – I laid
inside a red wagon –
my older brother next to me
a red bow tied around my
forehead
Christmas and I finally
made it home.

Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved
Posted by Nancy Denofio at 5:30 PM 4 comments

INDIVIDUAL PATCHES OF EARTH

Individual Patches of Earth

A lip of warm water
crawling up a stomach
one late afternoon
delight, a moment past

earth rejoices in
sprays of light
color blends
perfect, and revolting

paint chipped
on a broken face
forgotten statue
beneath a tree in winter

ripple of water
near, a stench
far away a clearing
in the distance…

heed the humming
of a plane - a bird, as clear
on hills beyond
a vision of vapor

lay tears of time
past, hastily
our evening solitude
our Ancestors dream

familiar spiral spin,
a course of roots
severe cuts splitting
earth is dug

we pass on different
minds, shrewd
dreamers of another
life worth living

A sealed book,
unread, unlearned,
unlike individual patches
of earth.

Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved

DREAMING OF A CLOWN

Dreaming of a Clown


small hands rest on a
window ledge
little legs kneel
on a braided rug

dreaming of the
carnival,
cotton candy,
roasted nuts,
a smell of popcorn
filling
midnight air

music playing on and on,
magic lights flash
a merry-go-round.
Sounds of laughter
in a street -
a little girl –
crosses her feet

she breathes on a
pane of glass –
tiny fingers draw
a picture of a clown -
his eyes,
nose and mouth,
she - always makes
him frown

Nancy Duci Denofio
all right reserved

Waves Disappeared

Waves Disappeared


I recall when people
dumped hypodermic
needles off the shore
of the Atlantic Ocean

I recall the children
at the beach – punctured
skin as needles
scattered along a sandy
beach. . .

no one cared

I recall the trash littered
in the sand - moss green
growing out of the form

no one cared

I heard about the men
who gathered at the shore
for rest and relaxation
from the time of Lincoln

they cared

before needles floated
on a wave –
but the Navy had Wave’s
and they floated –
rested at the shore. . .

And those men in uniforms
were handsome –
women gawked at men
while wearing tight dresses
high heels, a tight bodice
to emphasize the shape of
a nature bosom

they cared

today, everything you see
perfect, is fake –
everything you read about
is a disaster –
the press thrives
talking heads smile
when it should be concern,
don’t they have families!

families who walk on sandy
shores. . .
but the waves and Navy
disappeared.

Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved

NO ONE CAME TO VISIT

no one came with flowers
no one came with pink
balloons or candy
no one brought pink dresses
to fit a new born –

mother, she knew

no one believed
or wanted to see a child
who entered this world
a little over a pound. . .
medical men told her,
“She won’t survive the
night.”

mother, she knew

she knew when two men
visited
she knew only one – but
knew of the other
one man sat to her right
one man to her left.

those visitors did not
bring balloons or candy
or a pink dress for their
new grand daughter –
a baby who would fit into
their palm

a baby with tubes in
temples –
a body to small and
needles too large

both men died before
the birth of her child

her father spoke to her,
her father in law
listened. . .

“Don’t worry she will
survive and make you
proud.”

medical men entered
her room and mother
smiled.
medical men warned
her babies this small
do not survive –

mother, she knew –

daddy entered, she smiled.
told him their little girl
would survive
he pulled a chair up to her
bed, held her hand, and
listened

he probably smiled back
he must have warned her
to face the truth
mother, stubborn,
she believed

a few days passed, and
the medical men told her
again –
a week went by, and she
smiled
two weeks, and the medical
men stopped talking of
death –

mother peered through
glass at her baby –
lying inside a metal box –
inside with tubes and monitors
with no one to touch a child’s
grey skin.

She watched as a chest
was forced to expand
she prayed to herself –
she waved good bye -
thanking the medical men –
telling them she would be back

every day – to watch a child
who barely opened her eyes

there was no touching,
or cuddles, no wrapping
of tiny fingers around a her own,
no legs kicking, or laughing
when a child yawned, thinking
it was a smile

no one talked about their
little girl –
no one asked about the color
or her hair – her eyes or her
personality
no one asked if she looked
like mother or father . . .
no one talked.

mother, she believed

every day – from summers
end into dead leaves of fall
and onto ice on city walks,
she too walked up a hill
to the hospital to stare
through glass –
her walk home, eyes filled
with tears, she recited an
Irish prayer

every day after work
father walked up the hill
to stare at his child he
could not hold –
laying naked inside a metal
bed with tubes still
attached to her forehead.

he watched as nurses
tapped the soles of her
feet – to keep her awake
to suck on a miniature
bottle – she began to eat

It was the day before
Christmas - a snow
filled sky – when news
arrived – she could come
home.

three months and ten
days after her birth
she weighed five pounds

nurses wrapped her
in tiny booties
a white undershirt
a small pink dress
snuggled up inside pink
blankets

with open arms mother
held her little girl
peered into her open eyes
pinched her little hands
and feet

mother, she knew

on Christmas day inside a
neighbor’s car they brought
their little girl home

she looked at my father
and said, “I told you so,
she would survive.”

and, there beneath a
Christmas tree – I laid
inside a red wagon –
my older brother next to me
a red bow tied around my
forehead
Christmas and I finally
made it home.

Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved

Loves Ashes

Marble cold, exact
rushing water - kissing
nakedness, of time lost

Hear rushing water
skipping stones, hands
touch, harmony exchanged

a distant star, a glimpse
of fate as two birds spring
free, we all must leave...

Electrify night
long since our meeting in
secret caves, and streaks

of rain coat your face with
loves ashes, earths explosion
long ago.

Marble dries in sunlight, color
fades at sunset, time shall not
replace you kissing stone

tucked from light of day
a lighted path, love arrives -
echoes in autumn, your

voice. One year has
depleted streams
love to rock is marble still

I shall want you until moonlight
disappears, a world beyond
to fold in flesh, not stone...

I see you - still, as air is changing
color as light flickers through
trees, losing life.

A Wave of Peacefulness

I want the moon to coat
a natural skin onto the earth -
saturate the ground with peace.

I want the moon to cast
peacefulness . . .
covering the world -
covering you, and
covering me with clear
shadows of ourselves.

Moonlight covered by smoke -
Volcanoes’, storms at sea,
ash - lumber burns to
remove nature.

A cast of peacefulness over
your home, into your heart -
deep inside each breath
you take. . .

A cast of moonlight
should curl like a lily over fresh
waters and friendly shores,
a cast - endless - a
wave of peacefulness.

Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved

Aging Bundles of Debris

Seven... locked inside a storm cellar
where bulbs hang to dry in damp
darkness of night. Where,
sleds are posed for winter play - long
piles of wood where Mama said,
“Mice live.”

I reach to find a glove grandmother
used in her garden, stiff from yellow
paint.

Light enters near an oval window
covered in last years paper and then,
saran wrap taped to studded walls.
It’s beyond the door where steps
of cement lead up to reach outside.

Tiny pieces of cement catch between
my toes, tickle bare feet. Spider webs
hang near the light switch, so I don’t
touch… silver strands of silk - still -
until the bulb heats and moves the web…

I am stranded here with aging bundles
of debris -
I see it now! Feel it now. . .
Locked down in a storm cellar -
a play spot… a hide out,
a storage room for grandmother’s vegetables…
a shed for tools, a place where
mama kept cardboard boxes filled
with dolls, tricycles, hanging by a
rope, above my head…

I remember the cold, and shiver run
up and down my arms – even in summer.
I remember fear, when someone caught
me alone in the storm cellar -
where children never played.

Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved

Tears of Dirt

A field of vision
a stone fits into a
fist of a child.

Close to ground
a stone is rubbed
against a child’s
lips, near a tongue
as she creeps near
bushes with thorns.

A child knows not
about a thorn, a
spider in its’ web
of sharp sticks
in green grass –

a shadow - made
a child cry when
lost - inside a garden
no way out.

a body rocks back
and forth on knees
to reach a place to
sit –

nothing in a garden
made a child smile,
no one to feed her,
hand a bottle.

falling onto
knees - rocking
back and forth
until asleep.

On top of
prickly pines
sleeping while
a world disappears

Three years old
at a crossroad
she chooses to sleep
in the center of nothing

on dirt - pebbles
caught between naked
toes - dirt lines
tiny finger nails

Awake, she rubs her
face - streaks of dirt
now dirt of tears...
She rocks back and forth

her head falls forward
her body limp -
falls a few feet from
stone -

never found her way
home.

Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved

GRAVEYARD

Life comes to a close
at night as a shovel digs
deep into the earth –
lifting dirt to make a
place for you to live.

At night - I hear a
shovel as sound surrounds
me – my body shivers,
and sweat pours from skin –
moistens a night gown. . .

It is clear now – as if night
were day – a hole deep
a man jumps into its’ emptiness
another man tosses a different
shovel which levels the earth.

The land, flat – sides high.
Bats fly from tree to tree -
ghosts surround men
digging a space for another
friend.

I glance toward the bench
near the oldest part of the
graveyard. And you sit with
your legs crossed, and boots
up to your knees – your hair
has grown - your nails
painted perfectly.

Are you wondering who is
next - or did you know first?

Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved

City Street

Hitching posts line
cobblestone streets.
Awnings open to shade
a plate glass window,
close to brick.
Iron seems to float
in air, near entrances -
proprietors lean
against brick facades.
City roads twist, and turn
between blooms on
a dogwood tree.

At Center Street a
wooden box, reads
deposit trash.

A horse, upset -
swings a wooden wagon
upside down.
Youths in knickers,
run to fetch
fruit, bouncing on
uneven ground...
A proprietor stares
as the horse defecates
in front of his property –
he knows the summer
heat will keep his store
closed until men who
carry iron shovels, and
a pail, clear the air:
it’s a quiet day.

Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved

Touch the Sunlight

thirteen…

she followed him
to the shade…
they embrace
laying in
overgrown weeds

he teaches her
to French kiss
by touching
tongues…
rubbing them
together
she feels cold
lonely
within the darkness
of a shadow
feels her heartbeat
strong quivering
inside her belly

thirteen…
heard about boys
in the ninth
grade
heard about
parties,
sex.
now
she wanted to run. . .
run, be twelve again

slipping her
tender flesh
across damp
green grass
to touch the sunlight.

Nancy Duci Denofio
All Rights Reserved

Drinking Beer On The Sofa Bed


Stretched out
drinking beer
on a sofa bed -
one after one
until the world
divides.
Who are you
changing
in front of my eyes?
A ordinary man -
now evil
lurks
within his eyes.
Sharing a beer
I never knew
this man robbed
youth . . .
Who are you
stretched out
in front of me;
blue eyes
stained red -
empty bottles
around a sofa bed.

Nancy Duci Denofio

Her Footprints

Fresh snow on steps
reveal her footprints -
evening has painted
the garage, yellow
squirrels leap over
steep banks of snow
a black crow circles
dried toast, she tossed
from the second floor…

small red beans attached
to thorns coated in ice
break as the sun
disappears dripping in
twilight.

Her round pedestal table
is cold, naked without
her cloth and dried
flowers, cluttered with
sympathy notes –
the wind picks up
and the notes scatter.

Nancy Duci Denofio
All Rights Reserved

A Smile Lines Your Face

At night - trapped
space - I lay beside
you, and turn to
lift my head
to watch you as you
sleep.

Black hair - thinner now,
your beard rough, and
your eyes closed.

Peacefulness surrounds
me as your eyes flutter;
probably dreaming.
A smile lines your face.

My eyes close -
I know I am safe.

Nancy Duci Denofio
all rights reserved