I Imagined Stopping

We've had a few days of cold, enough for the water in the fountain to ice over and the roads to get slick. So be careful out there, okay?

Once I rounded the corner
saw your tail~lights through bluish steam
your tracks through drifting snow
halting at the aspens
I imagined stopping
to aim headlights at your bad luck
grabbing for a blanket
and hurdling toward your car

I heard my knuckles tapping
on your vapor covered window
hoping the only red I’d see is lipstick
that you’d still have all your life-signs
and my breathing could resume

These images I formed
because my mind's eye loathes a vacuum
I cannot picture blankness
when the story line’s unclear

I imagined stopping
while our narrative’s still forming
as our lives are intersecting
grateful I’ve got time to choose

Survivor

The Teen-in-Residence is reading Whitman for a school assignment, which led to questions about Meaning. I don't remember much about Whitman but do remember connections to nature and changing seasons. With temperatures dropping into the twenties, our season is changing here as well.


That last remaining leaf
on the windswept, proud pin oak
has earned my full respect

With her pluckiness and grit
I’m pulling for her
hoping she holds on tight
to the only life she knows

And when it’s time for her to leave
I hope it’s on her terms
that the fall to earth is gentle
her only sound a joyful noise

Office Hours

Not sure if I've ever posted this one before. My educator friends can all relate, it's something we've all been asked at one time or another...


When you asked me
if we covered anything important
I didn’t pause to wonder

I got into this work
because it’s all important

But since you asked
then yes
I imagine we did

We watched a bootleg copy of King’s I have a dream speech
took turns playing Vivaldi on the Stradivarius
correctly calculated the date of the rapture
made routine repairs to the space station
hosted a gymnastics team from Sweden
brokered a peace deal in Palestine
isolated the gene for breast cancer
produced an Oscar-winning film
blew up some shit in Chemistry
solved Fermat’s Last Theorem
created a masterpiece in oil

And did some prep for the final

Missed you

Things that could have stopped me

A normal childhood
without pharmacology

Never learned Latin

My parents stayed together

Don’t own a tweed jacket

The voices inside my head encourage
but never scream

Incessant cries of the breakfast flock

Living in countries
where poets are killed

Time changes and the dark seasons

Red pen within

Celebration of Clay Art

This evening, I will have the good fortune of co-hosting an event commemorating a new collection of rare and valuable Northwest ceramic art. Every meaningful event in life deserves a poem...

Earth, long before us
alive, now and forever
today, source of joy


.

Narratives From Her Return

In loops reminiscent of planetary arcs
she’d sail to the far corners of the earth
then return for some respite and a soft, clean bed

While there
as here
she lit up doorways and gained favor
by learning the ancient greetings of her hosts
peering into their worlds through newly borrowed words

Once home, she’d unpack new stories
of long hikes, throbbing feet
and close calls
each one starting with a greeting of place

From the cabbie in Guangzhou
Have you eaten?

The warriors of Masai
How are the children?

In the rarified air of Bhutan
Is your body well?

And my favorite
from the Twi of Ghana
How is your soul perceiving the world?

Showering with Perseid

It's August so I've disappeared, on the bike for long pulls, in the kayak for long paddles, and writing without posting. It's catch up time.

This time is ours
but only while I’m kneeling
at her altar

Paddling through the blueness
of the deepest lake I know
precious time before moonrise
I feel her stinging sparks of light
assaulting every pore

Exotic sounding neighbors
with their names so unfamiliar
make me pause enough to wonder
if the Soho field is artsy?

Is Virginis Gamma blushing?

Does Elenin need a friend?

Half a world down under
just beyond my line of vision
there’s an unseen comet burning
on a mirror of glassy water
swirling dust across the outback

I still think of her at night