Posts for June 21, 2024

I’ve been tasting distance in the way a road does–
winding distance, empty distance, distance 
that is not distance but is instead
bumper-to-bumper traffic.
The space between us
is an artifical gully
in this electronic
age, but I can’t 
give up the
generous
empty,
the gulfing.
It is a luxury I
exhaust into the air
like so much smoke. I vanish
into myself more and more each day. 
Distance like an empty highway. Distance 
like a trail I follow, its lack and beckoning path.

You are now standing
On hallowed ground
If you listen close
You might hear the sounds
Of all the ones who came before
And made this dream possible
Bypassing barriers and
Overcoming obstacles
To give you the dream
You own outright
Title and deed
In turn you turn this space
Into a place
For those in need
You are protected on this hallowed ground
And on the next drive you take
Into town
Please be reminded that for all of those folks
Who didn’t want your ancestors here
That there were less and less of those type of folks
Who felt that way
Every passing year
And in the face of racists, bigots and phobics
Y’all preserved your own space right
Here
In the middle of Central Kentucky
I couldn’t fathom or ever have guessed
That I would be lucky or fortunate enough
Or rather, blessed
That the universe allowed us all
To stand together and connect
And to use all our available resources to protect
The land those before us bestowed for us
This sacred, hallowed ground
We will do our best to respect, preserve, and enhance
And we will not let you down

History makes friends
for the children of adults
who sought connections.

The past few days have taken a toll
the finest Dayquil can’t fix.
So as I sit in hotel lobbys
on the verge of falling asleep
please know I tried to be fine.

A bright orange sun against a blue sky

Falls quickly during our drive

Our words stumble over each others

Topics flying out of the window

A quick music break because the song is too good

We make it to your driveway

To sit and laugh

The strawberry moon finally says hello,

And we bask in its pink light

We’ll snap blurry pictures

That we may never look back on,

,But any time spent with you is hardly forgettable

And darling, you are as rare as the pink moon

I was born in a factory

On my moms lunch break

An hour later she was sent back to work

And I got placed in onboarding ,

Trained from the womb

Working to the tomb

My dad stopped by on his 15 minute breaks just to watch me work,

Running the line ,

With no time to fill my mind with who I am or who I want to be

I Let my feelings go on the conveyor belt

And I wonder where they could be.

I was born in a factory,

What did you expect from me?

I heard there’s a place called outside

Where you can be free and feel a breeze

But this sounds like a dream

To live how I want and to be me, but what would I do? What would I see? Would I take it all in or start organizing the trees? Cleaning the grass and counting the bees

What would I do,

How can one live without a boss to please?

What do you expect from me, I was born in a factory.

it’s in the kneading of hands in soft dough
the smell of earth after a fresh rain
the genuine smile from a stranger
a silk pillow soaked in tears from a good cry
the breeze 
underneath 
the strawberry sky

I’m ready to gather now            
            Where you once kissed me  

With sweet mead & rose            
            Against the door’s opening frame  

This blush berry hung low            
            As we looked long in the reflection  

Full as a thickening summer            
            On a car’s rolled window  

To say, “wouldn’t we make            
            The most beautiful couple”

Strawberry moon
That’s what the weatherman called it
This morning
I see a full moon
Quite often
But this one has a name
So I must
Seek it out

Aftet dark
I tread lightly 
In my granny gown
And bare feet
The strawberry moon
Isn’t hard to find
Only it doesn’t look
Like a strawberry
It looks like a big, glowing ball
Of golden butter

The moon glows bright
Behind night-blackened
Branches and leaves
I move my head
This way and that
Trying to get
The best view
And in that moment
I gaze at the moon
Hear only silence in the night
And I smile