DEDICATIONS, PLEDGES, COMMITMENTS. For the past. For my own path. For surprises. For mistakes that worked so well. For tomorrow if I'm there. For the next real thing. Then for carrying it all through whatever is necessary. For following the little god who speaks only to me. --William Stafford

Saturday, August 09, 2014

THINGS BETWEEN INHALING AND EXHALING

Take this moment.
Take what you see.
Expect the unexpected.
This changes everything.
It's just some place you haven't been.
What are you supposed to do?
The loneliness of a foreign land
is a remarkable tale you've yet to write
and please is the only word you know.
In a moment of weakness you may
magnify the sounds of animals,
deer in the field, little sharp hooves,
round bellies, ears unfolding
the way irises in your garden unfold.
Be familiar with your surroundings.
Be excited -- single knots
tied along a nerve cast out
like a fishing line.
Count each knot like stars.
Words do not matter when you are
this close to home.
That photo on your desk.
Tell me:  what did you love?

About Me

My photo
1. In dreams I am often young and thin with long blond hair. 2. In real life I am no longer young, or thin, or blonde. 3. My back hurts. 4. I hate to sleep alone. (Fortunately I don't have to!) 5. My great grandfather had 2 wives at once. 6. I wish I had more self-discipline. (I was once fired from a teaching position in a private school because they said I was "too unstructured and undisciplined." --Who, me??? Naaaahhh....) 7. I do not blame my parents for this. Once, at a parent-teacher conference, the teacher told me my little boy was "spacey." We ALL are, I told her. The whole fan damily is spacey. She thought I was kidding. I wasn't. 8. I used to travel with a theater reperatory company. My parents weren't happy about this. 9. My mother was afraid that I would run off and paint flowers on my cheeks and live in a commune, and grow vegetables. I once smoked pot. ONE TIME. 10. I don't drink or smoke. (Or swear, much. Well, I drink milk, and water, and orange juice, and stuff. Cocoa. I love Pepsi.) 11. Most of my friends are invisible. 12. I am a poet and a writer. All of my writing on these pages is copyrighted. Borrowing (without acknowledgment) is a sin.