On the morning
after the evening
you took the time
to make sure I was ok
I am dancing in the bathroom

John Legend sets the tone
give me the green light
I fill my lungs with joy
ready to go right now
I give myself a pep talk 
and set my sights on happiness
at least just for today
in the shelter of your love

~ Robin J Phillips  July 4, 2020

I am thankful for memories
and puppy kisses
and long walks
stopping to chat with
neighbors who cleared 
the trees that blocked
the road and
trapped us in 
thankful for the 
neighbors who walk 
the dog that gives 
us puppy kisses 

~ Robin J. Phillips, Nov. 28, 2024

I had 
a dream once
And my dream came true 

I am the planet 
And you are my moon

Gravitational pull
Takes my breath away

Every day 
Every day 

~ Robin J. Phillips, December 23, 2022 

My mother forgot my name yesterday 
She knows me. Just couldn’t quite remember what she calls me.
What she told the world I would be called. 

For a day, my name sat just over there, at the edge of her world 
ducking into the corner with dust bunnies, grandma’s recipes, 
and what to wear in the morning.  

But I’m back. Here again, I sit with her love of peanut brittle,
nestled against pink plastic curlers, 
stuffed into a purse filled with lipsticks and tissues. 

I’m right here when she declares on New Year’s Eve “I had three boys and one girl.”
But I wait for my name … or my self … to be hung back up with her comfy gray sweats, 
to be lost somewhere between banana bread and barley soup. 

I wait to sit again with the dust bunnies, trying not to sneeze, 
looking for a way back into the room.

~ Robin J. Phillips, Jan 1, 2019

We are every age
we’ve ever been
when we’re together

~ Robin J. Phillips, February 2024