Dec 21, 2009

Winster Solstice


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7Op3Sz3lPM&feature=related

Light a candle
add wood to the fire
pour a cup of cider
bang the drum
watch the bonfires
count your blessings
embrace the darkest of nights
and "burn the clocks"

welcome the light

Dec 13, 2009

Dec 9, 2009

Smell of Snow



the kids say my nose knows

I can smell snow
in Alaska my sinuses ached
in Germany the migraines would come
in Hawaii I waited endlessly
in Washington I smell it coming
no Kiro weather reports
are more accurate
dry air shifting
getting moister
then the big wet flakes

and the cameras come out...yay

Nov 28, 2009

Greenman

our greenman stands guard
over the garden
season in season out
watching life
witnessing new growth
recording bee hums
counting the daffs
birds shit on him
his skin rusts
nothing phases him
he just stands and waits

I could learn from him

Nov 26, 2009

Thanksgiving 09


waiting for the balloons
in Herald Square
stuffing the turkey
wiping down the counters
listening for memories

over the river and thru the woods
I am that place now
tried a new chutney
I already know
they will hate it.

Nov 22, 2009

Detachment

photo by betterlivingwithherbs...
dreaming about detachment

armed with layers of connections
duties, responsibilities, shoulds
fully weighed down

wondering what detaching unleashes
naked of the chains, what follows

would one float away like a
freefloating dream?

like dandelion fluff

Nov 9, 2009

Crow Woman revisted



my crows follow me everywhere
nagging, egging me on, taunting
caw caw, pay attention
we are the keepers of the sacred law
laughing amongst themselves.. little jokes
hopping to internal street beats
chewing on gum wrappers and carrion
charmers, old as time

Nov 7, 2009

November



only a few yellow leaves hang on
deck covered with crimson
webs span all the doors
spider girls spinning like mad
fairy lights hung in all the corners
cider simmers with cinnamon
searching for yam recipes
checked out cheap flights to Mexico

Must be November in Washington

Coping

Edvard Munch. Anxiety, 1894. Munch Museum, Oslo

investigate using more whole grains
check election results
get celica to the shop
call my senator
worry about health care bill
research Green River flooding
create something in studio
find new sources of protein
cry over over Ft Hood shootings

practice serenity
be transcendent?

Nov 5, 2009

Tea


Tea cups in hand
we lean in towards each other

The stories are eagerly waiting
they need to come out

Such joy at connecting
yet always a risk-never easy

Ah yes common ground
we are not alone

Ah yes women survive
even thrive

The stories are indeed
all that we have.

Sep 29, 2009

Into the New . what next?


the new scary gestalt
seeing the whole shebang
praying for skills to manifest
visions so clear I can touch them
muse calling
come and jump into the clay
wondering how I ended up here
red gems and old glass
bronze vessels and textiles
all intertwining
making jewelry,
making talismans
making amulets
making tools for shamans
who ever dreamed
of this

For Strong Women

For Strong Women

A strong woman is a woman who is straining
A strong woman is a woman standing
on tiptoe and lifting a barbell
while trying to sing "Boris Godunov."
A strong woman is a woman at work
cleaning out the cesspool of the ages,
and while she shovels, she talks about
how she doesn't mind crying, it opens
the ducts of the eyes, and throwing up
develops the stomach muscles, and
she goes on shoveling with tears in her nose.
A strong woman is a woman in whose head
a voice is repeating, I told you so,
ugly, bad girl, bitch, nag, shrill, witch,
ballbuster, nobody will ever love you back,
why aren't you feminine, why aren't
you soft, why aren't you quiet, why aren't you dead?
A strong woman is a woman determined
to do something others are determined
not be done. She is pushing up on the bottom
of a lead coffin lid. She is trying to raise
a manhole cover with her head, she is trying
to butt her way through a steel wall.

Her head hurts. People waiting for the hole
to be made say, hurry, you're so strong.
A strong woman is a woman bleeding
inside. A strong woman is a woman making
herself strong every morning while her teeth
loosen and her back throbs. Every baby,
a tooth, midwives used to say, and now
every battle a scar. A strong woman
is a mass of scar tissue that aches
when it rains and wounds that bleed
when you bump them and memories that get up
in the night and pace in boots to and fro.
A strong woman is a woman who craves love
like oxygen or she turns blue choking.
A strong woman is a woman who loves
strongly and weeps strongly and is strongly
terrified and has strong needs. A strong woman is strong
in words, in action, in connection, in feeling;
she is not strong as a stone but as a wolf
suckling her young. Strength is not in her, but she
enacts it as the wind fills a sail.
What comforts her is others loving
her equally for the strength and for the weakness
from which it issues, lightning from a cloud.
Lightning stuns. In rain, the clouds disperse.
Only water of connection remains,
flowing through us. Strong is what we make
each other. Until we are all strong together,
a strong woman is a woman strongly afraid.

by Marge Piercy




Aug 30, 2009

Late Bloomers



second wave of honeysuckle
wafting across walkway
late summer shadows
first glimpses of fall
ripe tomatoes
white phlox
late casa blancas
squirrels ramping up
for annual oak frenzy
red leaves at top of maples

me walking- finally
striding into fall




Aug 26, 2009

For Ted 8/24/2009

ABC photo

the common good
commonweal
looking out for others
paying a living wage
stepping out from privilege
taking risks
speaking to power
living with his own demons
and doing it all with
power and passion
and that Irish laugh
this man will be missed!

Aug 25, 2009

Cle Elum


http://www.pnwadventures.com/tag/cle-elum/

Darkest blue night sky
songs drift from the river
air creeps in -crisp and full of flavor
snuggled cocoon-like
occasional dog barking
or is it coyote?
pine needles falling like rain
cones knocked down
like missiles by zealous squirrels
ah, Cle Elum
great place for good dreams



Aug 18, 2009

Re- connections


Changes, differences, communication gaps
losing touch, losing trust, losing friends
ah reconnecting
tenuous reaching out, hoping to heal
needing the circle of good intention
egos and facades fade when facing
mortality

The Pod

photo by Kim Clements

Orcas
black and white
dipping and diving
ancient ones
witnessing them
brings tears
their eyes dark pools
the young
mimicking the mothers
we are a pod
they are a pod
will we all survive?

Aug 5, 2009

The Healing


in and out of pain
in and out of here
in and out of now
in and out of consciousness
in and out of awareness
in and out of dreams

short spurts of sleep
an aching like an an ancient hurt

another bump in the road
another learning experience

on the other side-
pure gratitude

Jun 25, 2009

Big Heart


big face
big laugh
big heart
healer woman
matters to many
changed things

may she be in beauty and peace


Jun 24, 2009

Sanctuary

http://www.metrocast.net/~hiker/

ice slipped over branches
like gloves
each breath crystalizing
in the throat
silence broken only
by crunching steps
a frozen shine, an altar
waiting for the prayers
of the pilgrims

Dream II


crossing the bridge
mountain mists
hovering over path
like ghosts
coming along for the ride
red rings circling
the birches
careful with each step
Irish moss
bouncy to the touch
flag up ahead
signaling a

change of course

Dream

www.catnaps.org/islamic/ islamimages/12inlay.jpg

silver inlaid on mahogany doors
white shoes to go
with the dress
kisses and longing
big old conference table
tiny apartment
low ceilings
driving madly
down rutted road
sweetness and exuberance
quite the dream

Jun 23, 2009

Easy



have it easy
learning to let go
of permanence

a wave rolling in and out
a sunset dazzling and disappearing
a peony- diva fluff then wilted away
new snow fresh then trampled
a family reunion and leaving alone

no holding on
no grasping
only this moment and eternity


Jun 21, 2009

The Maze

starwon.com.au/ ~cfrench/Maze.jpg

messy love
complicated devotion
reluctant restraint
silenced views
controlled passions
diminished influence
circular dialogue
endless hope
unparalleled admiration
the maze

parenting grown children


Culture Clash



artificial safety
illusions of sameness
removal of conflict
structured peace
passionate reflection
art as escape
fake bliss
artist not warrior
contradictions abound

what to do?
what to think?
how to act?






Jun 15, 2009

Falling

http://www.birdforum.net/opus

falling, falling
plummeting over a cliff
reaching for a rope
a ledge, a toehold
cannot make everybody happy
cannot make everybody safe
so fall it is

what can I see
on the way down?

what can I learn on the way down?

have I come this way before?




Jun 1, 2009

She Who Sits


she who sits 
in leather
her beauty
not skin deep
eyes that hear you
ears that see you
rarely words
a vessel of compassion
slowly slowly unsheathing
your heart
me-
endless gratitude

May 30, 2009

Kind Heart

www.bobleroi.co.uk/. ../InnerLight.jpg

kind heart
gentle presence
passing through
like a falling leaf
like a shaft of light
like a spider's web
soft, effortless
I think
we need more of that

May 16, 2009

Honoring she who...




she who remembers birthdays
and graduations

she who delivers funny lines 
with a serious face

she who listens 
to the truth, tales and outright lies 

she who carries all the stories
even the hard ones

she who has a tender center
and a resilient cover

she who perseveres 
in a ring of fire

she who made a life
out of pure determination

she who writes haiku 
and lives outside the lines

ahhh.

"An old pond
 A frog jumps in
 The sound of water"

Matsuo Basho


 


May 12, 2009

Clay


speaking gives way 
to forming shapes
allowing the silence 
to ignite the
muse within
new territory
beginner's mind
groping, stumbling 
unsure

May 11, 2009

Spirit Lake



she told stories about
inuits  and 
swimming holes
Berlin after the war
poor people and 
civil rights

she wove tales 
of courage and ethics
of service and joy

she gave me a burl
from Spirit Lake
before Helen blew
her stack

she called out
have it good..

in memory:  Mary Lee N




She who...


 
colors clashing
acrylic yarn
no itchy wool for her
mix it  up 
express yourself
shout out 
her world 
as tight as a drum
voiceless
powerless
knit one purl two
no will ever
ever hear the rage

afghans do speak

Remembering




under the maple
knees ground in soil
silk scarf wiping tears off stone
echoes of gruffness
longing for connection
waiting my turn 

May 10, 2009

Mothers Day




lonely sleepy nights 
bouncing colicky baby
agony at
little league 
your kid on the bench
prom dress shopping and hysteria
algebra tutoring with 
resulting brain drain
sobbing daughter
on the couch
donating toilet paper 
for first apartment
birth of grandchild

mothers day indeed

May 8, 2009

Now


wishes, dreams
maybes, some days,
in the future, down the road
are trumped by
today, soon,
next, immediately, 
currently, now

some sage said:
just do it!

Apr 29, 2009

April's Green



april's green has impact
softens light
conveys hope
lifts spirits
hides winter's debris
announces tulips
teases the senses
calls out to the housebound
heralds the arrival 
of may
 

Apr 23, 2009

North Shore 1968



old samoan nods
poi dog 
follows him into surf
gone
sun moves toward noon
me- I roll over
yell at kids
more lotion
much later
old samoan and dog
return
he nods
me - I roll over

Potsdam 1997



floating
in river reflections
approaching under sail
to eat your crumbs
meditative
always regal
matilda's friend
john the swan



Exit





the key to the door
the way out
the path
the escape
the exit
the resolution
freedom
is the exit sign lit?




Apr 21, 2009

Demeter

she who
makes arbors
protects birds
worries about others
kicks ass
gathers lavender
dreams of pots
waits for cecile brunner
studies glazes
screams bullshit
lives full out.
demeter, give her a break...

(for linda)


Florence 1971

photo thanks to: farm1.static.flickr.com/ 251/453890781_3a0d4b3..

long ago
apple blossoms above Florence.
old Renault, tiny campstove
mother two daughters huddled
laughing.
us in regimented lawn chairs
rented trailer-enduring
me- dreaming of escape

Babylon


first spring heat
mobs of frantic
gardeners
local nurseries
bursting with color
earth still cold.
planters over eager
yet, to see their bliss
clematis magnolias
petunias tomato plants
crammed on carts
loaded  in SUV's
heading home to Babylon

Beefsteaks


Joe's tomatoes were legend
firm, giant red globes
cut the middle slice
add mayonnaise and bread
heaven
now to remember his tricks
and grow my own

In memory of Joseph Hudyma

Apr 18, 2009

The glorious sun has returned

Photo by Lana Weed

cats know
about dreaming in the sun
about can opener music
about cars that return 
at 5 o'clock
they know about pleasure and joy
they give and give
no wonder they were worshipped

Apr 15, 2009

Spring Hunt



spots of snow scattered
brook whispers: here, here
little tufts of green scattered
on the dandelion banks
the magical treasure-
pussywillows
to be colored with chalk
taken to school
touched and cooed over
the secret place
remains ours