The Poetry Marathon

Don’t think so much Susan
Turn the news off,
turn the entire TV off.
Stop distracting yourself with
things that don’t matter.
Go outside,
sit in the grass and
take pictures of your birds.
Get off the couch,
go, smell the scents of the world.
Have some fun,
it’s okay to have fun,
it’s okay to be alone,
it’s all okay in the end.

Don’t think so much Susan
The past won’t change,
the future is unknown.
What are you doing now,
what do you have now?
Want what you have before
wanting more.
What do you read, listen to,
watch?
What do you take in, focus on,
obsess over?
Relax, it’s all okay even when it’s not.

Don’t think so much Susan
Don’t worry about announcing
you’re living your best life.
Just live your life
whatever it may be,
whoever it may be with.
You don’t have to prove you’re
always on top of it all,
doing your best,
doing better than you are.
Proof is not what life is about.

Stop thinking so much Susan

I sit and look out my window
but the veins of the tree catch my eye.
The wine glass and cheddar cheese plate
stay untouched by my lack of desire.
I sit in the hardback chair and look out my window,
see the sky of my dreams
and the blue of my hopes.
The oak tree stands upright and proud
as it clings to the earth and longs for the stars.
I sit and look out my window
and do not see the empty space
leading to the pavement below
but instead the sunflower touched by the dew.
I sit and look out my window
but the veins of the tree catch my eye

Roe vs Wade was overturned today

I walked into the break room and found
my coffee pot gone.

Elsewhere a teenager girl finds she’ll have to carry
her father’s baby to term.

We’re back to one hundred years ago.

I walked next door to the coffee shop,
sneaking out of work unseen
to not get caught but
their coffee was weak and I needed caffeine.

She went to a neighboring state
borrowed money for gas, drove all day
and found out she was too far along
but at least she won’t be imprisoned for murder
when she returns home.

A year ago this time,
mass graves were found
of indigenous children killed a hundred years ago
at old residential schools
They were stolen from their parents.
They were wanted and they were not wanted.

Three years ago in Perris California
13 children were found
imprisoned by their parents
in basement cells and
tortured in their house of horrors.
Allowed to eat once a day,
shower once a year
kept chained to their beds.
The foster family where they were sent
after their escape
was arrested and charged with abuse.
They were wanted and they were not wanted.

Children are sleeping in case worker’s offices
because there is nowhere for them to go.
Children are living in the streets,
neglected, hungry and prey.
They are wanted and they are not wanted.

Roe vs Wade was overturned today.

The coffee pot was gone from my break room.

And a girl realizes her only hope to not bare her father’s child
has been taken away

Skipping through the flowers
sipping at the blooms
darting who knows where
they stop to say hello
with wings snapping in the air

I try to capture them mid flight
wings spread
bursting with shiny color
My camera is ready
but they are a blur

Fly free little ones
fly free
You’re not meant to be captured
even if only on film

Whose woods these are I think I know
or do I?

I’ve always loved this poem.
It’s the only one I remember from grade school years
and can quote lines from even today
though I found it on my own.
They didn’t teach poetry at my school.
The gentle rhyming
the sing song nature of it
speaks to me.

The imagery takes me to this forest
these woods
and I am solitary and at peace for once
taking a break
watching snow gently fall and build
like I used to at my grandmother’s house.

I loved to see the deer make an appearance
in the field that lay before the trees
as they watched and searched for food.
I hoped my uncles didn’t maim or kill them.
They seemed like such gentle creatures
only wanting to live.
And I just wanted to pet and hug them.

I think about it
while I’m at work
about slowly dipping myself
into the hot steamy basin
feeling my body submerged
releasing the tension
from the day
from my aching throbbing self
but I don’t.

I tell patients all day long
at the chronic pain clinic
to relax those muscles
to free the spasms that envelope them
to take a break from the pain
find some respite
for just a little while
but I don’t.

Release your mind, I say
soothe the body
free the spirit.
I tell them the prolonged
pain response
is like pouring gasoline
on a fire
to care for themselves
find the energy to
change their routines
but I don’t.

The words got stuck in my head today
But I have let them out to play
Fear can hold me in it’s grip
and take my thoughts away
I knew this would hurt
What could I do
live in fear?
No I
can’t

“All I knew was that I wanted to
spend New Year’s Eve with you”
What happened to that woman?

What happened to the woman who
leaned over the table and whispered
“you look beautiful tonight”

What happened to the woman who said
“I’m going to marry you”

What happened to the woman who
felt safe when I held her

What happened to the woman who put
her arm around me and held me close

What happened to the woman who was going to
get a sledgehammer to knock her walls down to
make us work

Where did that woman go
and who the hell is this one?

The lights twinkle
at the neighborhood diner
announcing it’s
Christmas time.

She sits across from me
with her manic self
talking and laughing non-stop
while I watch her
exhausted by her energy.

She’s excited and I’m glad
but it’s a little too much
a bit too forced.

And I know all this energy
will spiral downwards
in the new year.

But right now,
it’s Christmas time.

“We all need a witness to our lives”
my friend tells me after I apologize for
sending another text.
Someone to see the small but not
insignificant events that happen throughout
the day
Someone to hear our random thoughts
and understand our quirky feelings
Someone who cares if we are sick or well
Someone who knows the latest cute antic of the dog or cat
Someone who believes we can succeed
Someone who knows us
A friend, a lover, a partner
It doesn’t matter
We all need a witness to our lives.