Morning on the Lake
Kayak glides
on water’s
glass surface
Ducks dip down
to catch
fat fish
Sunshine slips
between
resting rocks
I hum a gentle tune
in unison
with the crickets’
soon-to-be-summer song
Kayak glides
on water’s
glass surface
Ducks dip down
to catch
fat fish
Sunshine slips
between
resting rocks
I hum a gentle tune
in unison
with the crickets’
soon-to-be-summer song
I forgot to get some tunes going before we started
But I’m kinda glad I did
This way I can hear the lazy rhythm of nature
On a Sunday
Gentle birdsong, dogs barking in the distance
The low static of highway bustle miles off
The muted shuffle of cat pads on kitchen tile
Your little hurmphs of disagreement
As you bend the recipe to your liking
It’s nice to see that a culinarian such as yourself
Still needs to follow recipes every once in a while
I do my part with sponge and towel
Making the impossible possible
Prepping the stage for miracles to be accomplished
Pouring measured ingredients and wiping counters
Sipping warm coffee and stealing kisses
If every player needs a good wingman
Then every baker needs a good washman
Ten tons of rocket fuel ready for a controlled burn
Nine vents releasing oxygen as tanks are heating up
Eight teams at Cape Canaveral monitor all instruments
Seven final checks and mission is “go”
Six cameras focus on the launch
Five fire crews stage nearby
Four astronauts strapped in
Three engines fire
Two seconds
One
Liftoff
The sapling has grown in my absence
now 11 feet tall
sturdy, its supporting posts
now collapsed around it.
It’s grown beyond them,
outgrown them.
Still no birds in its branches–
it’s a tree in training, still
in apprenticeship,
still learning to stand still,
watch the ibis graze
like chickens
take in the kazoo sound
of the fish crows.
strengthen your bones
bolster them against erosion
nosh broccoli. snack on string cheese
paint with bob ross. go barefoot
in bluegrass. take a hike and soak
in sunny vitamin d. eat almonds
lentils, sardines. belly laugh, meditate
communicate and vegetate if necessary
find what you like. do as you please
munch crunchy kale chips. be kind
to yourself, others—to the bees
this earth will try to suck your marrow, grind
your skeleton to dust and ultimately succeed
but know you’re constructed of stuff
five times more powerful than steel
four times as sturdy as concrete
the world will weather you but you
are built to last, tougher than you seem
show ‘em what you’re made of
strengthen your bones
You have been gone two years
not twenty,
not lost at sea
but buried
at the edge of a field
in the coffin your brother built.
I watched
while they lowered you down.
Still, I ache
to gather every atom
of your being from the air–
carbon, hydrogen, oxygen–
and by force of will
squeeze your molecules
and spirit back together,
to be Penelope
running to her returned Odysseus
her eyes brimming with tears,
throwing her white arms round his neck,
kissing his sea-weathered face,
holding him as if forever.
But, my hands slip through
the space in front of me,
and my arms return empty
to hold only me.
Ако откаже тялото и уморено
Не иска вече да ми служи
Ще го прегърна като за последно
Ще Благодаря за вярната му служба
И ще поискам от децата свои
За него да не се тревожат
да ме оставят да умра спокойно
И розов храст на гроба ми да сложат.
Защото те ще знаят, че душата
Която в него дълго е живяла
Ще продължи напред към Светлината
а майката Земя ще вземе само тяло
Аз прехода си ще направя плавно
Под вещо ръководство на Духа ми
И ще поема пътя славен
Към своя дом.
А ангели ще пеят песента ми.
means watching the crown with my family,
together, debating the meaning of queen consort.
I put in, uncertainly, that it means you’re married
to the current king.
My sister emphatically corrects me,
citing her love of royal history as credentials.
Queen consort means you aren’t of royal blood,
it means you’re a commoner.
A quick google search reveals the truth:
a king’s wife.
My sister lets out the only reasonable rsponse.
“That’s what I meant.”
