Calm Lake, Ontario
Still, silent canoe
Summon loon’s call at twilight
Fractured ore-kissed glass
Muddy water
from a swollen waterfall
the drain scarcely
keeps apace with the flow.
There are no fish in the pool
the kings of this realm
are water striders.
Gleaming black carapace,
long, tentacle-like mouthparts
as they literally
walk on water.
A feat only accomplished by
one human.
He walked on water through
divine intervention
or maybe some chakra focused into the feet
depends on what you read.
Water striders use good, old-fashioned
hydrophobicity coupled with surface tension.
Simple science, but compelling.
My boys and I watch them
skating across the pool
searching out mosquito larvae
enjoying a specific ecosystem
pondering the niche we witness
marveling at the small wonders
we don’t often enough stop and see.
It’s only a creek, sometimes mostly dry,
but the June rains bring the clay
and it rushes past my door.
I hear the rain as it dances on my roof.
The leaves dance too. All the birds
disappear while waiting for a break.
I love the sound as the water rushes by.
The stream has turned yellow. It swirls
around curves and over grassy banks.
Yellow, so yellow
running away again
running away again…………………………
At sixteen we laughed at the man on the street,
Calling you pretty too many times,
We smiled and dodged into our crowd of friends,
Then into a building where we could forget.
At eighteen you entered our house looking frightened,
Saying someone was following you,
He stopped causing (you) problems soon after,
But the question still hung on my lips.
At nineteen you told me what they did,
People you trusted only tying you up in a web of lies,
You silenced that question before I could ask,
And this time I understood.
You have a kinder heart than I,
You never asked for them to die,
No matter how many times they stole the life from you.
So, I will be a better person, too,
Instead of marking my hands in their blood,
I’ll find enough love to tend to yours.
a laugh and a brush of shoulder
trying to get it off my chest
without your discomfort
but a giggle does not make aching go away
only leads you to believe everything will all be fine,
as i wither beneath the weight filling my lungs
till shrugging becomes too tiresome to lift this heavy pain
(Apologies! I’m late posting today because we had no electricity or wifi.)
I have seen the light of ten thousand days
Grow dim and sink and fade in the West. Eva Gore Booth
“The Body to the Soul”
the land suffers neglect and abuse
data centers, species loss, screw worms
in unbridled deceit
erasure of open bidding
data centers, species loss, screw worms
red lantern flies, poisonous shrubs murder dray horses
erasure of open bidding
disregard for tribal boundaries
red lantern flies, poisonous shrubs murder dray horses
public lands for private enterprise
disregard for tribal boundaries
demise of science and vanishing wellness
public lands for private enterprise
sweeping stock profits manipulated by market magic
demise of science and vanishing wellness
is another pandemic brewing?
sweeping stock profits manipulated by market magic
unbridled deceit with the rush of –isms and phobias
is another pandemic brewing?
state secrets clutter the clearance shelf
unbridled deceit with the rush of – isms and phobias
there are plenty of classified documents for all
state secrets clutter the clearance shelf
is the nuclear code now simply WTAF?
there are plenty of state secrets for all
other secrets shudder behind redactions
is the nuclear code now simply WTAF?
black Sharpies shutter names
other secrets shudder behind redactions
the winds of law vary by neighborhood
as black Sharpies shutter names
where once I saw a shining beacon
the winds of law vary by neighborhood
and now I see a pit of decay and decrepitude
where once I saw a shining beacon
the Department of Justice thinks it’s the Department of War
and now I see a pit of decay and decrepitude
the Department of War forgets its mandate is defense
the Department of Justice thinks it’s the Department of War
we cannot reflect for the masses of algae
the Department of War forgets its mandate is defense
in unbridled deceit
we cannot reflect for the masses of algae
the land suffers neglect and abuse.
A man was walking from Jerusalem to Jehrico when he was set upon by robbers, who stripped him naked, beat him within an inch of his life, and left him to die on the dusty road to Jehrico, where the walls fell. He might’ve been a good man who beat his wife, or a bad man who was kind to his slaves. All we know is he was naked and dying and alone, on the road to Jehrico.
Then a priest came walking down that same lonesome highway, and saw the man who’d been walking, who was now robbed and naked and beaten and dying. And the priest did the right thing, and passed by, on the far side of the road, for the priest was too holy to risk becoming unclean, on the road to Jehrico.
A Levite soon came upon the beaten, naked, penniless man. The Levite did the right thing, for he wasn’t holy enough to risk becoming unclean. He crossed to the other side of the road, kept his eyes front, and ignored the wounded soul beginning to rot before it had finished dying, on the road to Jehrico.
Then came a Samaritan down the road, and this was bad news for the dying man (who may have been good or bad, and probably had a name). People from Samaria and people from Jerusalem did not get along, they were enemies, plain and simple, and the Samaritan ought to have thanked God for the opportunity to witness an enemy in pain.
What the Samaritan did next was horrible, unbelievable, perhaps damnable. He felt compassion, Jesus said (and who was He to lie?). The Samaritan stopped (can you imagine?) and dressed the dying man’s wounds. The Samaritan wasted good money on oil and wine and hotel rooms, all for an unclean stranger, on the road to Jehrico. And now the Samaritan was unclean as well and a rule-breaker to boot and out all that money he’d wasted.
Time passes. And if you find yourself on that dusty road to Jehrico, and you choose to listen, you will still hear whispers of the dying man and the Bad Samaritan who saved his life.
