May 2015 – detail collector

May 31, 2015June 1, 2015

torches at the front

hap-py birth-day! i announce
to emory upon first sighting
a cosmo bloom for you i say
and hand him the fuschia-petaled wonder
_______

two tupperwares
of joseph-made
ice cream
(one ginger and
one black walnut)
on snack table
slowly melting
_______

a storm of hole-punch
paper confetti scattered
across front porch
(mostly white
some yellow
some grey)
_______

ashly in pin(k)-striped coveralls
plus gold grown on head-top
mistaken for me
_______

aluminum bat ting!
as each fantastically costumed kid
takes a wack at the home-made fish-lure piñata

_______

how we talk/joke under our breaths
(geez, can’t anyone have a private
conversation around here?)
and how we laugh/howl
with dinnerplates/bowls in our hands
_______

cacophony of colors and sound
flags in the air
instruments in hand
torches at the front
we wind around the gravel road
towards the fire pit
_______

niblings george shares
the gender-neutral word that has fallen out of use
for niece / nephew
_______

uck-fay the olice-pay
george raps it out
around birthday bonfire
eyes face-paint blackened
like a racoon
_______

blaze and swirl
as baigz steps away from the circle
to spin flame
_______

like refurbished dollhouse furniture
she compares herself to
tiny fixed up miniatures
we’re really doing this
_______

loft window-hanging prism
sifting almost-full moonlight
into specks of rainbow fleck
_______

from the water world:

A girl cools off herself in the waters of the river Ganges on a hot summer morning in Allahabad, India. – voice of america, day in pictures
_______

same reason
kathe kollwitz
drew the print
with the text never again war
(in no time
past/present/future
will this ever
make any sense) :

A Syrian man raeacts over the body of his son following reported shelling by rebel fighters in Aleppo’s Jamilia district. – voice of america, day in photos

kathe kollwitz print:

May 30, 2015

paralleling

george finger tutting at lunch
like fractals i say
like a screensaver tyler replies
he teaches us the medussa
and we wrinkle our brows
in concentration
_______

in the dream
i was on the street
paralleling the shores of
the st. lawrence
a returning
bike tires making that
slick spray sound they make
in road-wet conditions
and a woman outside the
corner store asked me
how far to ______ (a town
whose name i can’t conjure)
for another woman who
already knew the answer
[in the waking
i question
what was
calling me
back there]

in another dream
that body-heavy lead feeling
attempting to talk to the store clerk
and succeeding
but with underwater movements
and eyes that refused
to stay open
while i explained
(curled under the counter
in nap position)
how the knife became
entangled in the belt-loop keychain
which is how the lunch crumbs and smears
below the counter came to be
_______
we should talk about your work/projects
from the edge of wake/sleep more often
i joke with trish
bed-splayed
fighting a creature
called sickness
_______

unnamed phenomenon:
speeding through a book
not because you are deeply enjoying it
but because you’re committed to
finish what you started
even if it is nearly 500 pages long
because once you do finish
you can move onto a book you’ll hopefully enjoy more
_______

several bites into dinner emory
asks if i want to join abs
_______

trish walks in singing
that birthday song
happy birthday to youuuuu
we’re so glad your aliiiiive
you’re a gift from the eaaaarth
bless the day of your birth
which i then sing to emory
in bits in the office
who sings along pointing to himself
substituting all the you‘s with i‘s
_______

A man looks on from his house in a street flooded by the rising Rio Solimoes, one of the two main branches of the Amazon River, in Anama, Amazonas state. According to the state Civil Defense, more than 150,000 people were affected in the State with strong rains. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Cattle are seen in a street flooded by the rising Rio Solimoes, one of the two main branches of the Amazon River, in Anama, Amazonas state, Brazil. According to the state Civil Defense, more than 237,615 people were affected in the State with strong rains. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly

Residents play soccer in a street flooded by the rising Rio Solimoes, one of the two main branches of the Amazon River, in Anama, Amazonas state. According to the state Civil Defense, more than 237,615 people were affected in the State with strong rains. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly

May 29, 2015

harvestable

the rise and fall
of the coir debacle
and the sighs of relief
that follow
_______
bending into pre-lunch
yoga (forest sequence)
first sweat of the day
_______

barefoot with hula hoe
i uproot north garden weeds
drawing comparisons
between weeding and ethnic cleansing
(take out the life seen as
of no use/inferior
so that the life seen as of value
thrives)
and while thinking of
names for light
_______

lowering starts
into north garden ground
the wonder of how
a small cucumber plant
can smell like its fruit
before it has even bloomed
_______

the way the
cloud cover plus breeze
plus sleeveless tee and
short hot pink/black shorts
make the humidity
workable
(later i joke: i wasn’t walking around
out there today
i was swimming)
_______

my palm against
the bottom of emory’s foot
and revealing to him that
they are the same length
_______

tyler on the porch
at dinner describing something
simon (age 6) said
the other morning:
the smallness
goes on forever
_______
tree frog sound
wafting from siberian elm
while i dig cat food out
from back yard barrel
to set on perch
_______
something harvestable she says
i love your garden metaphors i respond
_______

from the water world:

Volunteers collect fuel oil from rocks at the “Muelle Viejo” beach in Gran Canaria in Spain’s Canary Islands. A Russian ship, carrying 1,409 tons of fuel oil, caught fire in Las Palmas port and authorities towed it out to sea where it sank offshore April 14 around 15 nautical miles south of Gran Canaria. The Development Ministry says they continue to take protective measures to avoid slicks spotted off beaches in the area. – voice of america, day in photos

Students gather as a jet of water is released from a riot police vehicle during a demonstration to demand changes in the education system, in Santiago, Chile. – voice of america, day in photos

May 28, 2015May 29, 2015

to patch

hunting my feet
i describe the manner in which
ashby woke me this morning
at 5:35 a.m.
in time for sunrise
snippet gazing
_______

squeak of sugar snap peas
(first harvest) rubbing against
each other as we grab handfuls
from metal bowl
_______
what if they used barrels
of swedish fish
to re-stock our pond i ask
on the porch after lunch
_______

itchyness of skin scratch
where kitten claws
(accompanied by mewing)
dug in
_______

frantic buzz sound of
fly newly stuck to uncoiled fly strip
as i arrange sprigs of spearmint
on dehydrating racks
in karma kitchen
_______
panorama swirl of
gray sky storm-brew
steel gray against blue gray against silver gray
woven cloud layers varying in
density and depth
_______

emory offers the
black/white zebra tape
to patch cracked matching wristband
_______

you put the super in super-hero
she says from a windy parking lot
where taos mountain looms/looks over

May 27, 2015May 29, 2015

our skin we

greenhouse de-con crew
removing the last of the plaster from
earthen-bag stacks
trish insists
on the party speaker
and we work-dance
beginning with yeah
_______

bottom-of-stairs
watermelon gum/ricola/post-tooth-brush
flavored kiss
_______

pre-lunch liana’s
tattoo shop open
for business at
side-yard picnic table
an array of temporary dinosaurs
frogs and race cars offered
_______
wrapped around white pine
trunk our limbs take on
black sap smudges
the sun shimmering
our skin we
lean in
_______

half my age i say
of renay who i chase
up/down the ultimate field
_______

lowering ourselves
into innertube opening where
we mime i-love-yous
maintaining somewhat-secrecy
amidst the pond flotilla
_______

how we carry
scent is one way
of remembering

_______
you can pick him
up sparky says
of the white baby (several
weeks old) goat
named cream
whose soft mowhawk
(running the length
of his spine) i pet
with my hand
_______

cricket the cutest
rat terrier with
perfectly placed spots
perched in mica’s bike basket
while we pedal the missouri
gravel and non-gravel hills
in sea-foam face paint
(mica’s = tendrils and angles
mine = a single assymetrical stripe)
_______

i had to keep myself
i say from chasing
your car down
that dirt road
_______
gibbous meowing
through window screen
and perhaps against my
better judgement
i let him and his entourage
(ashby) in
_______

from the water world:

Children play in a water fountain just outside Jerusalem’s Old City. A heatwave settled over Israel with temperatures reaching near 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit), according to Israel’s Metereological Service. – voice of america, day in photos

May 26, 2015May 29, 2015

sparkly again

i like penetration in the morning
she reveals naming what her body has already confessed to
morning skinsweat mixing
with last night’s
how we curl
into, murmuring
not yet awake
we give – take
_______

ashby’s paw print in soft
cistern-side mud
while i trowel-dig
and drop sunflower starts in
_______
spotted in
flower bed, north garden:
first cosmos bloom
a fuschia petaled star
atop skinny stem
_______

sparkly again
i report in afternoon meeting check-in
_______
emory and nina calling out
from up in the pine
storm spotters reporting
cloud mass five miles away
_______

she explains
topo-mapping
glitter tattoo pen in hand
traces the exposed rise-falls
we can cross naked sunbathing
(on a dilapidated dock)
to lesbionic music
(beth hart and kristin hersh)
off our list
_______

under locust trees
to the sound of red-winged blackbirds
we call out cloud shapes
in the menagerie:
a hedgehog
a negative space butterfly
_______

moss slippers i call them
(though really it’s algae)
of the drapey green things
emory and simon and then i
lift with our toes/feet
off algae-tastic pond surface
_______
UP!!! alyson calls as i
toss a doughy disc of
gluten-free flatbread
in liana’s direction
across the stocked
potluck table
_______
liana pouring
chamomile lemon balm spearmint tea
through too big of a strainer
into too small of a cup
while ashly and i
sip and giggle
_______
under a ring/cloak of
gray/pink/all qaulities of light-carrying and deflecting clouds
we shoot gravel road footage
we take us to church
_______

selkie-sporting (but too humid
to be smooth) contact improv jam
of ridiculousness plus
twerkish feats and achievements
_______
popcorn hands
turning tarot cards
on rumpled blankets
_______
from the water world:

A fisherman collects spilled crude oil at the Pantai Teluk Penyu in Cilacap, Indonesia’s Central Java province, in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Damage to PT Pertamina crude oil unloading facility at 16 nautical miles south of Cilacap’s shore caused 14,000 liters of crude oil to leak and pollute the coastal waters, according to Antara. – voice of america, day in photos

A dinghy overcrowded with Afghan and other immigrants is towed by a Greek coast guard patrol boat into the port on the Greek island of Kos following a rescue operation in a part of the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece. – voice of america, day in photos

May 24, 2015May 29, 2015

on the rise of her

liana how-are-YOUs
the grocery store greeter
(in that sunspill-of-light
way that she does)
who sits with his head leaning
in his chair
_______

she salutes the orchids
deep purple
magenta streaked
_______

kid with cartoon crabs
printed red on blue jacket
plucking dinosuars from
the build-your-own terrarium station
_______

superhero outfit or tennis dress
i ask after exiting the dressing room
to reveal the swooshed dri-fit
light blue gold print
_______
ruth gilmore the salvation
army cashier says
i know that name i reply
she writes about prisons
she explains
_______

in the newly-moved-into kitchen
we make to do with
a tiny cutting board and
tv tables for counters
_______
slipper socks for all
april delivers
on this grainy (gray/rainy) late afternoon
_______

they make me so happy i say, almost crying
about the flower beds
and the plants in them
i could almost cry right now
_______

it’s so sweet and ends
with this beautiful heat
april says about the raspberry
chipotle chutney
while we chomp our
piles of nachos
and special delivery
brat-fest vegan brats
_______

first we shake
to get the ink going on the
ceramic-ware pens
and then we craft
canoes and vags and
lady gardens onto
a set of ceramic mugs
_______

the dangerous combo
of acro-yoga and
slippery unicorn leggings
resulting in laugh-fest on
living room floor
_______
cuddle-curled
chin perched on the rise
of her ribs we talk
ourselves towards
dream-time

May 22, 2015May 30, 2015

revealed under shining

morning sight from couch-perh of sleep:
liana sunk and sleeping deep into
part-deflated air mattress
taco-ing
_______
running the nature’s classroom property we
stop at the shores of lake beulah and
lake ______ where a turtle is seen
a great blue heron is spotted
beaver dams are pointed out
and the lives of little fish are
revealed under shining water
_______

not long before
april breaks out the
glue gun in order
to affix a pin/bracket
to a tiny unicorn
twice
_______

riding the second wave
of lilac-bloom-scent
(possible due to
being a hardiness zone or two
north of where we just came from
where the lilacs
died off several weeks ago)
_______
are you still out there
creating and breathing love and questions
into things allison asks
from her post in nebraska
_______

gas station search
for spearmint leaves candy
unsuccessful
mint m&m’s hastily purchased
as stand-in
_______

dezi shows me
the carriage house where
now the chickens roost
_______

red bulb glow on
madison co-op front porch
dezi and i trade
tales that have unraveled
since our last reunioning
whir of bikers
occasionally pedaling past
_______
i send my salt-lick arms
i say for wrapping
and rustling

May 21, 2015June 12, 2015

snickerdoodles and soymilk

trish reaches into tupperware and
hands me two
chocolatey oatmeal cookies
for the road

_______
the sweetness of
(you get one shot
call out emory and simon
as i’m heading to cool ant the car
packed up)
tossing the ball
and sinking it
_______
how we howl at the
great blue shine of mississippi
threading itself under
the cable suspension bridge
we roll across
_______
light and wind ruffling
roadside grass
while we cruise through/alongside
this song soundtracking the momentum
while i mention moving through
space-places
trees vs. fields
_______
of course i do written in
glitter tattoo pen across
the pirhana’s thigh
cast in windshield-filtered sun patch

_______

like promise rings i say
about our PLEZ – URRE
bff-type bracelets
laughing into sky
_______
milemarker 113 on
39 north
swath of silver foil
ensnared on roadside tree
wind-flickering
_______
sandhill crane in flight
we cheer out/chant
sandhill crane!
sandhill crane!
_______

subdivision pull-over where we
lean in as
schoolbusses pass
in celebration of six
we agree on six
_______
backyard brookfield ziplining
from treehouse to tree
and trampolining and frisbee
eli on our farewell asks
of liana so what does that make you?
a cousin?
_______

driveway goodbyes with a
sendoff of clothing time-capsule
(homecoming dress
super-patched baggy jeans
independent hooodie)
_______
as soon as gold spills
through tree limb silhouettes
we follow the salem witch trial path
through blooming honeysuckle
towards the scent of wood smoke rising
from the fire pit
not without having to dodge
the sock balls tossed
across the field
(where liana grabs my hand
and we run to shelter
of the other side)
_______
that’s what i was
basically saying to you earlier
she leans in to relay amongst snickerdoodles
and soymilk referring to the
put a ring on it song
playing on stage that the
returning students lip sync to
_______

a karaoke so casual
it’s mostly only us at the well-lit double-d
where we write our requests on
a napkin nominating/volunteering
the reluctant others
(how i hold the mic out to geoffrey
during the cecilia chorus)
liana hype mans/whirling dervishes around
and natalie and i give our best
back-to-back air guitar while we
home-sweet-home it

May 20, 2015July 30, 2015

conjuring

the appearance of three deer
tawny and nimble legged
crossing path ahead as we
bike rain-wet gravel to
blacktop edge
_______

pizza in your pants
ashly and i conjure a jingle
and correlating hand gesture
just after passing imaginary crumpets
back and forth
over outdoor hot tub water
_______

under blanket layers
we pass back and forth a
fizzing can of discount
waist watchers ginger ale
while handfulling
perfectly popped/seasoned
popcorn to our mouths