#Barbara Lydecker Crane

[dabiconcordia]

The Call

I try to be a patient son each time Ma rings me on the phone. This time I blurted, “Gotta run! I’ll call you back when I get home.” Barbara Lydecker Crane

[batgovernor]

Using form: Couplets: Barbara Lydecker Crane, 'Secret Adages'

“Write nothing down in ink” is the secret’s first rule; “You promise not to tell?” said the secret’s first fool. A secret’s likely safe if entrusted to a stranger; one who knows no English will further lessen danger. Don’t hide a guilty secret no other person knows; like mold behind a ceiling, a spreading fester shows. Secrets may be sweet, too delicious not to share. To savor them together might…

[prettykittypublishing]

Möbius, The Poetry Magazine | "The Flood," | Barbara Lydecker Crane

Möbius, The Poetry Magazine | “The Flood,” | Barbara Lydecker Crane

The Flood

By Barbara Lydecker Crane

Migration, 2015

I’m shivering, girls, to talk about that time.

Gramps and I heard sirens, walking home,

and gasped that awful moment we were sure

it was our front door the firemen came out.

A burst sprinkler pipe on your attic floor,

one called. We’re sorry, folks–you have a flood.

  We rushed into the nightmare of that flood–

alarms blasting for an incessant…

[batgovernor]

Barbara Lydecker Crane, 'Justin Case'

Justin Case is a very cautious man. He keeps a cache of bottled water, food and a pair of spares in the trunk of his sedan. Others think that he’s aloof or rude when he inspects each fork and spoon for germs. His sisters know he swivels out of kisses. He navigates the office on his terms; Justin shuns each outstretched hand–and misses clinching business deals. He cannot fathom why colleagues eye…

[batgovernor]

Using form: ghazal: Barbara Lydecker Crane, 'Love Refrains'

Mom banged her hairbrush down in a reprimand of love. “What an awful question! You don’t understand love. “Of course Dad loves you. How can you question that? He doesn’t have to blare it out, like a brass band of love. “You aren’t a princess to be coddled on a lap or praised without good reason. That’s a never-never land of love. “Your father works hard, with a great deal on his mind. Now don’t…

[batgovernor]

Barbara Lydecker Crane: 'The African Elephants' Report'

Small herds of Two-Legs roll across the plain and stop to stare at us in our domain. They rumble in their giant metal hunks, which belch the fumes that irritate our trunks. These creatures demonstrate a lack of strength. They seldom run, nor walk for any length. We assume their eyesight is defective: the flat things that they click must be corrective. Why do they retreat from every shower, since…

[prettykittypublishing]

Möbius, The Poetry Magazine | "The Flood," | Barbara Lydecker Crane

Möbius, The Poetry Magazine | “The Flood,” | Barbara Lydecker Crane

The Flood

By Barbara Lydecker Crane

Migration, 2015

I’m shivering, girls, to talk about that time.

Gramps and I heard sirens, walking home,

and gasped that awful moment we were sure

it was our front door the firemen came out.

A burst sprinkler pipe on your attic floor,

one called. We’re sorry, folks–you have a flood.

  We rushed into the nightmare of that flood–

alarms blasting for an incessant…