Five Poems by A.M. Hayden

 

Full of Beans 

 

Vin is…

           

is a cup of love made from a chewed tin

            glowing with sunshine’s reflection

 

            is survival on a stick

            has a wiper blade thick lick

 

            is satin and sinew

            unconditional through and through

 

            is under the protection

            of angels and knows a resurrection         

 

especially our Lady Guadelupe,

            Lady of Mercy, Mother of Pups,

 

            is a Zen Monk in disguise,

            full of beans, and Satori-wise 

 

*Title in reference to Mary Oliver’s poem, Self-Portrait 

 

Beach Boy

 

He loves the beach most of all

There is nothing to run into, no obstacles

Just smells for miles, distinguished

Scents of kelp, brine, and jellyfish

                        in the distance

 

Nose flared, ears perked like tents,

twitching at the gull squawks overhead

Sandpipers skipping to their allegro melody

He can’t see the pelicans’ kamikaze dive,

scoop their stew of fish in fishnet bills

 

but he can feel the sun warm his black shiny coat

infinite microscopic crystals, rocks a million years old

give under his pads like earth’s memory foam

does he recognize the same stardust he’s made of?

ground coral, ocean floor mysteries

 

Vinny thinks the beach is the best

he can have sandy paws, pause to dig in his claws

Circle wherever and however he likes

because this beach has no leash laws,

                        just boundless freedom, zero flaws

 

Brave Illumination

 

Brothers from different mothers,

Vinny and Aloka walk a similar path.

 

Every day a vow of peace.

Every day a new chance for compassion.

 

Aloka, a stray from India, found and rescued.

Vinny, a stray from Mexico, found and saved.

 

“Aloka” is Pali for illumination.

“Valentin” is Spanish for brave.

 

Both survivors, both beloved,

and both would walk thousands of miles

 

to be with their people, curly tails excited and swaying,

like prayer flags waving, good dharma spread with each wag. 

 

*Aloka is the “peace dog” that was adopted by and walked with the Buddhist monks during their Walk of Peace from Texas to Washington DC from Nov 2025-Feb 2026. 

 

“Absolutely Nothing. He’s Perfect.”

 

 

What we say

each time

someone

predictably asks,

 

What is wrong with him?

Teaching Moment

 

Kids will sometimes say,

“but, look! He does have four legs!

We say, no, just three.

They point under his belly,

“right there!” they insist, “the fourth!”

Yeah, no, that’s not a leg, bud.

A.M. Hayden served as Poet Laureate for Sinclair College from 2021-2025 and is a Tenured Professor of Humanities, Philosophy, and World Religions, receiving the League for Innovation Teaching Excellence Award (2020) and the Distinguished Faculty Scholars Award (2024). She has two full length poetry collections (American Saunter: Poems of the U.S. and Old World Wings: Poems of Europe) and one chapbook (How to Tie Tobacco), published by FlowerSong Press and Wild Ink Publishing. Twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize and a River Heron Editors' Choice Winner, she lives on a windy farm with her family and many rescues including a blind, three-legged dog named Vinny Valentine and a three-legged goat named Old Man Jenkins.