“ Within Our Grasp”

 “Within Our Grasp”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Within our grasp tantalizingly close 

tailoring hours to circumstance 

carving out days old but back in fashion 

all in the second half of tightly packed

Coke vs. Pepsi e.g. responding, “Oh, bleah! 

“Reflexive Instincts”

 Reflexive instincts fleeing or fighting hard times

spurring fleeing struggling rebuffing 

cherry picking reality series

subscripted by Scrabble tiles

as rallying cries …

“To Catch As a Fly Ball”

 “To Catch As a Fly Ball”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

To catch as a fly ball 

the blahs, more formally 

so glad you asked 

like grouping data all at random 

say that you’re going, say 

accumulating unwanted discoveries 

in a refrigerator 

after a computer crash

housed in the big house…

“Addicted to Cliffs”

 “Addicted to Cliffs”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán

Addicted to cliffs

lurching from crisis to crisis

at the very last minute

averting catastrophes

during not-so-grand-stare downs 

haggling while kicking tin cans 

towards fiscal disasters 

signing, “In emergency — break glass”

extinguishing fire-engine-red ink debt ceilings …

“Holding Up”

 “Holding Up”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Holding up scripts waving to family and friends 

dressed in a flight suit along with a film crew 

to shoot a full-length movie in outer space 

docking with the space station 

as funding wanes for exploration 

patched with space-grade glue and tape …

“Anything’s Possible”

 “Anything’s Possible”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Anything’s possible 

by going well beyond an Odyssey 

for the highly-regarded off-beat mascots 

in a Beaux-Arts parking garage 

as your alma mater …

“In a Split”

 “In a Split”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

In a split

with variant triggers 

scrambling last straws

rising fast

spreading rapidly

presenting challenges 

to understanding the daft …

“Quitting in Droves”

“ Quitting in Droves “

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Quitting in droves

hardly alone 

overly harsh

sharp arguments 

containing the chaotic 

remaining alarmed 

slashing water bottles 

becoming a slog …

“Replacing”

 “Replacing”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Replacing impasse with embrace 

as face-to-face give-and-take 

shell game issues at play …

“Committing to a Bit”

 “Committing to a Bit”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Committing to a bit

as a resurgence of laughs

really truly actually acting

magically daffy

with vulnerability and pizazz 

anything for a gag

clutching arrows and an olive branch ...

“The Doyenne of Flip-Flops”

 “The Doyenne of Flip-Flops”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán

The doyenne of flip-flops 

bottomless eggnog and evergreen garlands 

fashioned as rom-com 

family sagas of ham-handed ad hoc ...

“Lost Out (barely)”

 “Lost Out (barely)

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Lost out (barely) forecasting 

a steadily shrinking outreach via proxy 

yielding discrepancies costing seats ... 

“In Darkness”

 “In Darkness”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

In darkness splashing down gum-drop dragon 

migrant families crashing on gym mats ...

“Reaching”

 “Reaching”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Reaching new peaks 

surging exceeding 

fivefold increases 

highly transmissible upticks 

like “fighting missiles with sticks” ...

“Minds Are Elsewhere”

 “Minds Are Elsewhere”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Minds are elsewhere 

“Wait! Don’t I know you from somewhere?!”

tramping upstairs memorializing affairs 

hammering fists on grass 

taciturn climactic left in tact rubber stamped ...

“Tomorrow”

 “Tomorrow”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán

Tomorrow isn’t promised 

beyond the melodrama of darkness 

alive with wafting melancholy 

like remade body clocks 

co-opted by gnarly phenomenons

of transcendental dubstep dropping novelty ...

“Cosmic Debris”

 “Cosmic Debris”

by Suzán Jiván Mom

& Mom-Mom Suzán 

Cosmic debris

tailing streaming

sprinkling luminosity 

jettisoning expelling

expunging mysterious

fuzzy dust ...

“The Clock Stopped”

 “The Clock Stopped”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

The clock stopped for globetrotters

and comics living in thick fogs

with mixed-race prodigies 

writing sonatas

beneath heated spotlights

of secret societies 

poetry read in the sky

above Ellis Island ...

“End Points”

 “End Points”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

End points major spoilers 

like time-warped off-kilter bosses

unrecalling faltering voices 

having dropped the ball as poor sports 

seen synonymously as, “small”

all along catty-cornered scoreboards ...

“On the Brink”

 “On the Brink”

by Suzán Jiván Mom

& Mom-Mom Suzán 

On the brink

strapped and struggling 

increasingly dire

having been once reliant

on mining outlying mountainsides

so tired of outsiders 

fearing rockslides

rural-urban divides 

in need of spot-on advice ... 

“Befuddling”

 “Befuddling”

by Suzán Jiván Mom 

& Mom-Mom Suzán 

Befuddling to imagine 

from multiple angles 

thinking patterns 

engaging the diaphragm 

of a black panther’s

spare winding paths ...

“Immense Stakes”

 “Immense Stakes”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Immense stakes prominent debates 

“Just what is a ballet body?”

roles promised then taken away 

looking emaciated affecting change 

syncopation jazzy intonations 

traveling through space 

wings vibrating as pandemics rage ...

“Outsized”

 “Outsized”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Outsized impacts restricting rafts of voter access

ugly tactics after-the-fact challenges 

voter rights’ battles looming gerrymandering 

marked as, “A ballot gone bad” ...

“Splintering”

 “Splintering”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Splintering/fracturing/backbiting/finger pointing/rupturing shake ups/compounded revelations/ breaking away/coming into question/while lying in a rumpled bed/after being way way ahead/yelping, “Ewww, you should have kept that to yourself!”

“Pushing Lies”

 “Pushing Lies”

by Suzán Jiván Mom

& Mom-Mom Suzán 

Pushing lies

rewriting history in real time 

denying riotous mobs 

donning golden flip-flops 

marching colossal red carpets 

mocking alarming thingamabobs ...

“Mega Sites”

 “Mega Sites”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Mega sites hightailing oversight 

poetry nights ascribing insight

righted by word-reliant allies 

“Expecting”

 “Expecting”

by Suzán Jiván Mom & Mom-Mom Suzán 

Expecting to be amended 

pushing and stretching 

pandemic relief efforts 

jettisoning raising the minimum wage 

re-incarnated like castaway stingrays 

wailing, “Let’s get crazy!”

in the clouds, say 

working it on the runway 

rubbed the wrong way