Waiting for the Fall

Trees breathe sunlight

And choke in October.

Pain makes them beautiful.

Leaves dangle with desire, potential,

wait for permission to be cut free.

I breathed you.

You were crimson leaflets sparkling against blue.

You breathed truth

through the confessional window.

Being plain made us beautiful.

We were waiting for the fall,

death’s descent from canopy to Earth.

What the seasons brought (part 1)

It is raining in Spain, he says.

His words stream down cracked windows

that dared not close.

2:30am (uninvited visitor)

the red light rushes in and i overreact, perhaps.

Perhaps not (scared shitless).

I finally make the complete cut (evitable),

yet the split is dirty.

Despite the putrid casing

joyful times seep out,

pulled away by soft fingers,

past my heart like bedsheets.

home again

sunlight and water blankets wrap around and again,

this green-scented warmth,  

joy's womb. 

here.

Email not sent (fury avoided, but catharsis complete), aka "Jesus Was Not An Entrepreneur"

Dear ___,  

How are you guys? I usually do not respond to your rightist propaganda.  Or even read it.

Just some thoughts from your annoyingly and inconveniently well-read relative, in the spirit of maybe sharing a bit of who I am and how I think.

I recommend that we as a culture and individuals re-consider the concepts of "trying" and "succeeding," and that our participation in capitalism can lead to an over-emphasis on money making.  

On "trying" -- in our capitalist model, we often work ourselves too hard-- literally to death. And for what? Not to attain fruits of the spirit, but for money.  

On "success" -- in our capitalist model, we often measure success by monetary gain. I would suggest that this is a poor measure of success.  

I do not believe the pure socialism is the answer, but capitalism has its flaws, too. Major ones. There really are "haves" and "have nots." Often due to pure greed, not true success. Maybe thinking within some other model--or rethinking our own capitalist model and adapting-- might encourage us to seek goals other than money making, at the cost of our health, our families, and our precious time for quieting down for reflection and spiritual growth. Despite what Limbaugh might want you to believe, Jesus was not an entrepreneur. 

Love you,

Me.

Send-off and Return

Ecstatic pleasure 

must be blocked from memory like labor pains,

comes again today for the first time.

Summer-like

Between light and leaves, my face giggles with sunlight.

another

The fog and the wind become burdensome at twilight.  Time for bed.  

vacancy

when the need and the trying and hotcakes and the knotted chicken wire go away, what is left?

still life with electrical cord (2009)

the details

as good as Japan (2009)

oh, feta.  i am surprised by your warmth and how well you complement sweet, roasted squash despite your acrid signs of decomposition. 

in or or out (2008)

number one

It was the rancid yogurt and, thereafter, the prematurely empty glass bottle, along with the limp spinach and carrot shavings on the edge of the knife, the knife that I may never see again soon in the future, that caused this blog.  

Soon, the walls will be painted warm colors and there will be enough space to create space.   But for now, I mourn the knife and observe the empty bottle.