Friday, December 09, 2016

Generational Acculturation

Between thumb and fingers,
she clutches the metal tool tightly,   her impressions
bringing forth rich symbolic magic, the meaning passed on and on and on.
she looks up and sees her Grandmother seated in the corner chair,
always with her head down.

Between thumb and fingers,
she clutches the metal tool tightly,   her impressions
bringing forth rich symbolic magic, the meaning passed on and on and on.
she looks up and sees her Granddaughter seated across the room,
always with her head down.

On the wall, he sees her story;
bent over in the field, black pajamas, pink belt the same color as the crops
his eyes scan the paj ntau for the violent soldiers,
but they all look the same,
confused by the jumbled lines,
he sometimes forgets the meaning.

On the “wall,” she sees his story;
bent over at his desk, he points to the memes in English bold print
her eyes scan the screen for the violent bullies,
but it all looks the same,
confused by the jumbled lines,
she sometimes forgets the meaning.

She sits patiently, while her Teacher speaks
she fumbles with her hands, just out of view
trying to think of how to share his words,
out of the corner of her eye, she sees
her stoic Father nodding along to the Teacher’s admonition,
and she worries about his reputation.

He sits patiently, while her teacher speaks
he fumbles with his hands, just out of view
trying to think of how to share his words,
out of the corner of his eye, he sees
his dutiful daughter nodding along to the Teacher’s instructions,
and has no worries about his reputation.


                        


Wednesday, April 06, 2016

Anatomy haiku

Ribs? I've got 12 pair 
Only seven of them true
I blame the rest on...

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

Mossy Stone

Struck by the vicious lines of her face,
The curt angles,
                  Juts,       contour,
Architect,      To a mess of curly hair
Tangled curves,       clouding outward
shrouded arrows, 
            iceberg softened,
rounded vice, 
     ...asks what of her heart, 
locked vault or a welcome? 
          

Tuesday, September 08, 2015

Lapdog in mourning.

The beauty stands stone like, carved not crafted, her hands are tucked away beneath her shoulders, her legs squared away, her back is straight but hardened. her gaze is in waiting.

He wouldbeherowouldbelover comes from behind to caress those caught shoulders, they move not an inch, he plies at them pleads with his hands for a break, a break through.
He alters, wraps his muscles around her, holds her. She does not break.
His face is casual but his hands are desperate, they slide around, her back, her shoulder, her neck, her collarbone, his movements show he'd  steal her away, give her a new day, take what she gave, but she won't let him.
He leans into her back, knowing her braced stance will hold him, his arm around her chest,  synchronizing breaths in the attempt, she does not falter. 

She waits, eyes straight, her coffee is served and she breaks her posture to lift it to her mouth. 

And then she acknowledges him.



Sunday, January 04, 2015

Rather than copy and paste all the poems over here... see Too Much Imagination for poems from August and September 2014.

Some of them are alright.

Here is one of them

#14) familiar summits

Your smile is a song I've always known,
 though I've heard it for the first time, today,
Somewhere in my stretching arteries,
       a shout,
                    a pounce,
                                   an "I've got you!"
Now, where did that come from?
      Some melody wrapped around my throat,
Choking on joy, the glow and blush
of cheeks raised. The notes easing aches,
And causing entirely different intestinal pains,
My toes tap the new heart rhythm...
I've seen glimmers in eyes,
     heard the stars and their high notes,  but there's 
Something like comfort in your gaze,
Like a song sung by our mother, like 
A song sung before the lapse in innocence,
And my instinctual reaction to hymns like that, is to shiver, to shudder, an attempt to contain,
Soon my lids  will close to your light, 
          but my soul will
             dance 
               uplifted 
        by your harmony.

Friday, August 08, 2014

Cuenca Dear, A Question



In a hundred hours not once 
did I feel unsafe, or unwelcome 
familiar streets, even when
-even in, the moments I was lost.

Lost,      but welcome.

Your lit up churches, foundations and towers
                 Highlighting what has                been and what could be.

Your street sweepers come out while the band is still playing,
and in our listening to the heavens
we turn around to find
cleanliness     in     the
clean lines of your brickwork
the curved lines of your stonework 
-you never quite understood the culture which birthed you.

In 6000 minutes 
I indulged in,
every aspect of your kitchen
with eyes, and smiles, and a tummy that grumbled - I sampled,

And sampled also your
artwork, the museos
of a thousand years.
The museos of ayer,
Sometimes your sculptures
weren't yet standing,
But I recognized the shape
Of what's to come.

Your center boasts
a pledge to preserve
You for all humanity -but
in all the love you gave me
none came with a touch.
How can I help preserve you
if you won't share with me a partner?

Welcome,       but lost.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

20/30

Of all the things I've seen,
nothing more beautiful, than the galaxies
of stars on the mountains of Medellin,
And though I knew it to be a dream, squinting just right I could see
the constellation of your hand in mine. 

Sunday, June 01, 2014

Gray things that climb from the depths and tear down walls 3.3.14



The first time you
watch an octopus climb
a wall, take steps, use
flailing tentacles to travel
across the boundary of the two worlds…

Ignoring it, ignoring all that is real, known, righteous, ignoring the boundary,

That world, becomes this world, becomes one world, becomes ours…

So too
As I stumbled
medieval alleyways old gray
brick, rough cut, smoothed by
time and primitive tools.
I was taught that castles
were a thing of the past,
of another time, another
world, and it is so, yet
the cobble stones are wet,
and the wind whips around
the corner, and the garbage
is rotting and I am
there.

So too
When I in my
madness round corners, manic,
talking to myself, dancing, conducting
the invisible choir, the chorus
symphony, melody, harmony
rhythm in my steps along
the cobble stone,
and much to my surprise
my inner tenor, is echoing
off these castle walls.

I stand shocked, I stand delighted,

It takes a moment to
recognize that tentacles serve multiple functions with the same
purpose –to propel.
And similarly the heart can play a
rhythm, aligned with
a world outside it.



So I was propelled forward
to meet my match,
and in the medieval
castle walls, gray, cold
dank, I also found
warm blood, melodic, pulsing
and my heart took
the pace and lead me
round a corner, till I
saw them

A quartet of bohemians.
A fado singer, an upright bass player,
a violinist, a simple drum kit,
the castle walls the
amplifier, the church bells
the signal, the back drop,
the cobbled heart,
I collapsed as much as
I pulsated. This was
a magic
merging of worlds…

So too
Was I left
a bit larger and a bit
empty.
How to return to cleaner,
safer surroundings.
I’ve seen the sea rise up,
I’ve seen the past rise up,
I’ve seen the rhythm of my heart
played on the strings of
a bass below the cathedral,
on the lips of a foreigner
my song echoed
through eternal walls,
carried by cold wind
corridors, smoothing the gray stones…

How do I go on…
without a one to share this?