Posts for June 12, 2022 (page 8)

I go to church 20 times on a Sunday.

Awake with the songs of 50 neighbors, the soft light through my windows beckons me to fresh air where I marvel at the squirrel chatter and say a prayer of thanks for the goat herder who discovered my coffee.

We sit on the deck, the dog and I. He, chewing sticks while I relish “good morning” texts from those whom I call beloved. My four-legged old man, the only ball and chain I can sustain, stiffly rises from his spot and sniffs around the yard- making his rounds like a security guard.

Breezes flutter potato vines and caress my skin and the windchimes alike. Dance and song with the choir of birds singing  different songs in perfect harmony.

Empty cup, rising sun and humidity signal it’s now time to go meet God at his house. He’s been at mine all morning.

                waves fine tune to foam
               rising up the sand, caress
                    toes in silk bubbles  

You wear your emotions, your problems, 
your perceived instabilities
like branches on an untrimmed tree
in too small a space
loudly taking up all of the air
leaving no room for the rest of us to
breathe

You shout your insecurities
and make excuses for failings
that are really just you not trying
and looking for someonethingelse to blame

Behaving like life split your middle with a dull knife
and your intestines spilling out like a banner printed
with all the self deprecating ideas of yourself

And I want to tell you to stop sharing all your personal
shit all over with everybody like you expect the world
to stop spinning and put you back together
All while you reject it’s offerings of ease
as patronizing and misunderstanding

It’s always early
morning or late
afternoon, light

& shadows crisp
as a glass of cold
Chablis, or else

the blue hour,
the crescent moon
a slice of lemon

in a sangria sky.
A stranger waits
till just the right

moment to dance
a jig on the street,
her face full of  

joy, her head cocked
at the right angle
for you to click

the shutter open
& capture forever
one more perfect day. 

Cora Anda-Cobb 

Sam Duwich

Sue Flay

Kun Chee Hahm

Tah Ko

Sue Pladel

Cassie Rawl

Dee Zert

Bewildered on what may briskly appear 
mistily on the river I veer 
moonlit with drear,
leaves fallen here

I steer unclear a pioneer on new frontier 
suspicion and fear with timber fallen near
trodden I hear, the rustling of deer?

I peek to my rear until my neck becomes blear 
wicked thoughts interfere,
will my mind persevere?

I pulled off to a clear and started my way through a garden 
a gnome whose home was guarded had given me pardon
three trees twisted then hardened eerie they parted
bleary bark afflicted, discarded as life had departed 
a dreary dark left uncharted as I left faintly hearted

but away with the thwarted,
a contorted suns beam appears here wiping my mind clear
creating a purple atmosphere that makes a premier in a time of year that I hold very dear
my kayak I steer into a violet sphere of hues vibrantly smeared,
altering me in extremes
I started witnessing awesome things,
like fall blossoming 
or falling leaves offered as orange offerings to a 
forest floor scene of color schemes i’ve only seen in dreams

Land-locked living is hard
for a Pacific-ocean-born
rough-wave loving woman  

Kentucky has its splendors and secrets
Its own magic but never will it be
the true place of my heart, my soul  

Not for me the tame waves and
crowded beaches of the east
Not for me the warm
salt water of the south  

Give me the rough-waved
cold-watered beach
The lonely beach whose only sounds are
waves and wind seagulls and sea lions    

Into the puddle of a poem

I do not believe
Silence is stagnant

Silence births 
stillness

Stillness births
space

Room for
processing

Room for 
daydreaming

I do not believe
gurus who spout

Lists.
Goals.
Time management.

I need silence—
that pause between moments

To slip into the meandering stream
of my thoughts, images and colors 

Not to seek
the ultimate truth or answer

But to unearth
the  peace of perspective.

another vaccine
another decoy
trapped in the reeds