tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29916077854401864902023-11-16T08:37:14.484-08:00Scribbles and BitsWe become saints slowly, and often in the most ordinary of ways.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2991607785440186490.post-33648894986845998302018-12-06T12:41:00.000-08:002018-12-06T12:41:08.259-08:00Of Jessie Trees and Dreams<br />Have you ever come away from a situation and questioned what you're doing in life? Not in the negative way we're used to, where you lay out the list of comparisons and see nothing but failure. But questioning in a way that is actually helpful. Like asking yourself "Hey, you once had dreams right? What were they and what stopped you from going after them?" Or when you realize that the sounds of children running around and being silly was a different (and absolutely preferable) kind of loud compared to the tv blaring Hallmark movies and old westerns all day.<br /><br />Last night, I spent the evening with people I'd never met in real life (though Twitter is another story entirely). We shared a meal around the table, laughed as the boys performed skits between slices of pizza, had my first experience with a Jessie tree, and heard myself saying "THIS (the family moments) is what I look forward to the most."<br /><br />I drove home thinking about the different ways in which hope and change were coming to them this season: a new child for some, going home and toward a new adventure for another. And I thought about how I have lived, especially these last three years...isolated and either ignoring or denying the hopes I once had for my own life. I had almost forgotten how something like a dinner table was symbolic of home and family (things I've wanted, but never made room for). I forgot how to take a leap of faith and pursue a path with no clear road map. I forgot how to slow down and enjoy life as it was. I forget, time and again, to look beyond the doctor's appointments and to-do lists.<br /><br />But last night, I remembered how it was to live among others, and with it, forgot why it was I wanted to hide away in the first place.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2991607785440186490.post-26363368514672279342018-12-01T12:25:00.001-08:002018-12-01T12:25:49.189-08:00The Stories We TellIn a chat about DNA tests and family, I started thinking about what we know about those who've gone before us and how those tales affect us. For years, I didn't know much about my family. I knew that my parents weren't married, that I was given a name separate from theirs, that my grandmother was the first person to hold me, and a few scattered memories that remained confusing until I was an adult and able to ask questions. Later, there would be stories only told at funerals: The grandmother who chased her grown grandsons past the fire department, brandishing a bb gun; the estranged alcoholic who showed up as his ex's home after the bar closed, demanding to search the house while verbally berating the mother of his children; The cousin of a relative who was put on disability for being racist. However, the stories that took their toll on me were the ones from my time in the Midwest. Slow, quiet threads woven in the fabric of our day-to-day which ended the same every time: I was unwanted, forgotten, and could trust no one to help me save for one person. The sense of abandonment and worthlessness were sewn early on, but the ripples are felt today when I tell myself I'm not worthy of something. I feel the sting when relatives question why I never called for help, only to find out that in all those years, they didn't get my letters. I'm forced to face it, stripped of its gloss and sugarcoating, when another relative slips and says "I got a call saying I'd never see you again."<br />
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These are not the kind of stories I'd want to tell my children, but they're the stories that motivate me to change how mine will end. I want a story, a family, a life that ends in hope, not in quiet desperation. (In this season of life, it's hard not to think of my own life as something other than quiet and left wanting.) For so long, I felt deprived of a past, not knowing much about my mother's family, and nothing about my dad's. But the more I learn, the more understanding there is to our family's fractured, rootless way of being. And the more I know, the less I want to know.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2991607785440186490.post-24310164902150670662018-11-09T13:07:00.001-08:002018-11-09T13:07:53.486-08:00Greet Them With an AxI spotted a bearded ax at the renaissance fair one year and joked that with it, I could finally stand up to rude and unruly family by merely greeting them at the door with the dragon-etched tool. It drew a laugh from my grandma and the next day, that ax hung on my wall.<br /><br />I shared the story with our bible study group last night when the subject had somehow turned toward toxic relationships. You see, I never actually wielded that ax while opening the front door to dubious family members, but the idea took on a life of it's own. Whenever family pushed Grandma to the point where her health or safety was affected, I would ask "do you need me to greet them with an ax?" With a simple yes, I would step in and be the muscle that she needed. I would announce the unpleasant news or dispense the medicine of action needed to steer Grandma back to health.<br />
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The idea of the ax was like an extra backbone, someone to step in when boundaries were ignored, or be a source of strength when someone needed courage. It manifested as a stern message to an unrelenting caller, whose persistence was draining on all of us. It was sitting with Grandma, holding her hand so that she knew she had support when she had to have a difficult conversation. On one occasion, it was telling someone that we weren't a storage facility, and that if their stuff wasn't picked up at the end of the year (yes... it had actually been eleven months at that point!) then their stuff would be hauled to Goodwill.<br /><br />We need that strength that is beyond ourselves, and sometimes, we see it in the form of support or actions from others. Last night, we discussed the supernatural strength and encouragement we receive when we go to prayer or spend an hour in adoration. How when we face our problems and fears, when we don't have the power or understanding on our own, when we face the fullness of life... we can and <i>should</i> be going to Jesus and asking him to do as we'd do for others: to be with us and greet life with an ax.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2991607785440186490.post-37647255295777457502018-11-07T11:27:00.000-08:002018-11-09T13:08:19.296-08:00'Tis the SeasonThe question came up today: What do you want for Christmas? Now, you might be thinking "Isn't November a little early to jump into Christmas?!" but stay with me on this...<br />
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For the last decade, Christmas has been bittersweet. It's the time of year when my grandma swears she's dying and that <i>this</i> is her last Christmas with us. We deck the halls and binge on Christmas movies until we're convinced that love is just one kiss under the mistletoe away. Christmas isn't a day, but months of fighting with darkness.<br />
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Three years ago, just after quitting my job to be a full-time caregiver, we found ourselves sitting vigil at Grandma's bedside in the hospital. For two weeks, we wondered what would become of us if she didn't recover from whatever mystery that had left her unable to communicate and unaware of her surroundings. Since then, each week (sometimes, each hour) has been lived in a kind of triage as we try managing the pain and heartache that comes with her deteriorating health and the dysfunctional family dynamics that make her care all the more stressful. In the dark and honest breaks in the day, when all is quiet and I sit watching the world carry on, I wonder if I'll have the strength to keep going when there is no longer someone who needs me.<br />
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These are the thoughts that greet me as we drag out the tree.<br />
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Loneliness accompanies the stockings that get hung.<br />
Heartache greets me as we light up the tree.<br />
Longing sings beneath the joyful chorus of carols.<br />
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Each decoration is a fight against hopelessness, an act of defiance in the face of sorrow that threatens to consume me. The gifts and advent calendars are promises of a tomorrow, an anticipation of something good. In all, these things are reminders of hope, and the one thing I ask for at Christmas (the one thing I need above all else) is hope.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2991607785440186490.post-51174568979392644652018-10-21T10:55:00.000-07:002018-11-03T10:55:44.425-07:00A Quite ReturnDear reader,<br /><br />It's a truth universally acknowledged that a writer never ceases to write, but merely stores up the words they long to share until they can no longer be contained. With that sentiment that I say "I never stopped blogging. I simply took a very long break after gutting my blog."<br />
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I think it has been four years since deleting my entries and walking away from chronicling my ongoing conversion to Catholicism, the years as a part-time at-home caregiver, and my interest in swing dance. The time since then has been...rough. In just the last few years, we've made it through multiple surgeries, another battle with anemia, heartbreak, reunions, weddings and deaths.<br /><br />I've said before that to write is to exercise one's demons.<br />
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I feel that at last, it's time to pick up my pen and return to battle.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2991607785440186490.post-76187888092792837982018-06-19T13:51:00.000-07:002018-12-17T20:22:54.999-08:00Summer of Poetry: The Final Poem<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 13.5pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><u>Three Decades of Yankovic</u></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The Weirdest of Al's</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">taught me to parody my</span></div>
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">sorrow into joy.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2991607785440186490.post-11409914409446170772018-06-12T13:50:00.000-07:002018-12-17T20:17:55.872-08:00Summer of Poetry: Bells<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">I saw a show about</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Mission bells</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">where a priest said</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">“Silver makes them sing”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">so swiftly there I bring</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">my sorrow</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and begged the bells</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">a song to borrow.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">My voice,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">long gone</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">‘came mended by the metal</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and the sweetness</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">of its singing </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">ringing</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">bringing</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">out the shouts of joy</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">now piercing through the sky</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">as I cry “thanks be to God!”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">...my hopeful hallelujah </span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2991607785440186490.post-92061636529316762842018-06-05T13:49:00.000-07:002018-12-17T20:15:35.876-08:00Summer of Poetry: The Village, Without the Plot Twist<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">I avoid politics</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">like the people in </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The Village</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">avoided the world.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Do you remember that movie?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">With the strange-talking</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">people dressed in </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">superstitious colors</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">hiding from imaginary</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">monsters of their own design.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The twist wasn't that they lived</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">hidden in the modern world,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">but that they made reality</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">out of a coping mechanism.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Clinging to an idealized past.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">They willfully chose</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">to live in a fake world</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">less painful</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">than the world outside.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">And the world outside</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">with its #metoo</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and kids with guns</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">is no different than theirs.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I don't want it to be real anymore.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I turn off the news</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">before it begins</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and don the color coat</span></div>
<span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre;">that won't get me killed.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2991607785440186490.post-65974955859778491672018-05-29T13:47:00.000-07:002018-12-17T20:22:33.941-08:00Summer of Poetry: Class Critique Poem 2<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration-line: underline; white-space: pre;">Upon the 34th Anniversary of My Arrival</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-eff6c8e3-7fff-827a-f27a-19d95cedcf7d" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Twelve thousand, forty-five days </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">perfecting the art of </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">w a l k i n g on e g g s h e l l s</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">around someone who disowned me </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">three times</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">through text and email.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Three hundred ninety-six months </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">placating a woman</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">who would abandon her child </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">with near-strangers in a place </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">seventeen hundred miles </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">away from normalcy.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Three decades </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">living on edge,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">startled by loud noises</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and careful to make myself</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">small</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and contained.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">But this year</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I wanted something different:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Permission to empty my world</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">of the people and things</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">reluctantly hoarded</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">out of guilt</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">or shame.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">To make space to breathe,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">to find my voice,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">to find myself</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">buried long ago</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">in the crushed dreams</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and abandoned pursuits</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">of a love-starved little girl.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">To find what sets my soul aflame…</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">To know what my laughter sounds like…</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">For my thirty-fourth birthday</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I laid my past to rest,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.1261724; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and launched a mission to rescue myself.</span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2991607785440186490.post-79553140107318216312018-05-22T13:44:00.000-07:002018-12-17T20:22:03.439-08:00Summer of Poetry: Class Critique Poem 1<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Red light blackens</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">as the narrow door creaks open</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">an invitation to enter</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">the sacramental space.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Feet are hesitant to move</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">into the void where I am stripped of my mask</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and my sins made known.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I kneel</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The springs of the padding beneath me groan</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">a song of neglect</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">mimicking the ache of</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">years in my bones.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I cross myself before the closed window</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">between me</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and my confessor.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Sliding wood</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and the reminiscence of</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">a face disguised by woven metal</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">reveal I'm not alone.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">"Forgive me Father, for I have sinned</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">it's been far too long since</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I faced myself."</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Long enough for the paint to peel</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">curls of white revealing brick.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Long enough to forget how claustrophobic</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">my secrets feel,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">how trapped,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">how small I am in this prettied closet.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I have come to unburden this heart</span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-1036a748-7fff-0f19-3879-27e0d85a0138"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">of a load to heavy to carry further.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2991607785440186490.post-84261604034020313042018-05-15T13:42:00.000-07:002018-12-17T20:22:16.391-08:00Summer of Poetry: Twitch<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The house is never truly </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">still. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">There is an almost endless punctuation of </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">shrill beeps </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">of mechanisms I've long </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">resented, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">shoving aside peace and mind with their </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">demands for attention. A </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">disrespect for my </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">time that mirrors </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">their insensitivity </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">toward the restlessness </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and frustration </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">their interruptions leave in their wake. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I just need time enough to </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">finish </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">one incomplete thought... </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Just </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">one </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">train of thought </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">that isn't hijacked by a </span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-0a8246cd-7fff-3c2a-7cef-b9a382b6ab31"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 17pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">notification.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2991607785440186490.post-9491751493675475222018-05-08T13:40:00.000-07:002018-12-17T20:21:48.814-08:00Summer of Poetry: With a Bonus Haiku<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">We are never more</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">alive than when embracing</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">our grand finale.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">***</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">My death sentence came</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">in the exam room--</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">brief, with apologies</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and a note of sorrow</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">in the directive</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">to put my affairs in order.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">But in the upside-down of</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">my mind,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">there was no order:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">only lists of regrets</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">that needed to be unwritten.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I refused to race toward</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">the end of my tomorrows</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and reluctantly greet Death</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">at the finish line.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">No.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I ran to the warmth of each day,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">telling strangers they were beautiful,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">loving</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">embracing</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">laughing.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I learned to dance for joy</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">with my failing body.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">And in those last few months,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I lived</span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-edc3239c-7fff-2b17-a6ce-37c7c3555818"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">more than those I left behind</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2991607785440186490.post-69014390446950890322018-05-01T13:38:00.000-07:002018-12-17T20:21:31.608-08:00Summer of Poetry: Untitled Poem 4<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The doctor asked how the meds</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">were working for me,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">but I was too engrossed</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">in the haziness outside.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">It was daylight</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">but not bright.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Blue, but not blue.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Grey, but not grey.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Not-grey, not-blue,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">full of clouds that glow</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">like fire when the sun begins to set.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Curiously, I cannot see the sun.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">No sun. No clouds.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Just a blanket of not-blue</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">covering all above</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">until I've forgotten what blue looked like.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Oppressive and unimpressive.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Real and light, but shades of wrong</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The sky, never truly dark anymore,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">but also, not quite right.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">But I've forgotten what the sky looks like</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and now it's all not-blue, yet not-grey.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">"I guess it's working" I reply,</span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-0b569809-7fff-d8a0-359d-f1ad20142099"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">still lost in the wrong colors outside</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2991607785440186490.post-54783548362423051042018-04-24T13:36:00.000-07:002018-12-17T20:21:14.648-08:00Summer of Poetry: Untitled Poem 3<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">There is no Summer</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">in the Golden State,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">just heat and fire</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">with no ending date.</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-f275b7f6-7fff-e468-579d-48e07f5d4955" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">In April begins</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">the temperature climb</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">until nature wins</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">once it hits June-time.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Constantly weary</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">for four months on end,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">sun-tanned and sweaty</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">'til Fall makes amend</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">with fresh soothing rain</span></div>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">quenching ground again</span></div>
<div>
<span style="background-color: #f9f9ec; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2991607785440186490.post-15768586733385655412018-04-17T13:35:00.000-07:002018-12-17T20:19:50.923-08:00Summer of Poetry: Untitled Poem 2<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">New amber pours out</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">into a readied pint glass,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">piquing my curiosity:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">"What does it taste like?"</span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-4e7917a1-7fff-6020-97d9-f295ff2fce70" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The cask-fresh concoction</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">is passed my way.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">"It tastes like time-travel"</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">But I do not understand</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">until golden brew touches</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">parched lips</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and I'm transported to younger days</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">surrounded by the laughter</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">of joyful men</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">toasting to new life,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">the excitement of first-born</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">fading as I swallow and my</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">taste buds dry.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Warmth flows down my limbs</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">hitting empty stomach,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">igniting the butterflies</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">of a first kiss,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">expanding until my body glows</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">warm</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">like the spring day of</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">our first meeting.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">I open my eyes to empty glass</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.0927896; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and ask for another trip.</span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2991607785440186490.post-31895973606510244952018-04-10T13:27:00.000-07:002018-12-17T20:19:00.918-08:00Summer of Poetry: Untitled Poem 1<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">My soul is poisoned</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.092204; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">like tule fog</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">rolling into the valley,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">flowing</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">from the emptied slough</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and swallowing us whole.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">A bright</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">swift cloud</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">low and rolling</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">like the bobcats</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">that roam the foothills</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">looking for smaller prey.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">The cold</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">endless grey</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">unyielding</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">pressing against</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">every space</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">until the world</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">disappears</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">and you are abandoned within.</span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-027d1b3b-7fff-d697-d509-a62d0ec69036"><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">It's easy to lose yourself in the fog.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2991607785440186490.post-32270806757378325062018-04-03T13:32:00.000-07:002018-11-09T13:52:38.688-08:00Summer of PoetryNothing says "get back on the horse that threw you" like signing up for a poetry class. And in the spirit of accountability and self-humiliation, I thought...why not share? Each week, our class gets a theme or challenge relating to that week's lesson. We'll also have two additional works due during the class that are open to class critique.<br /><br />So with little fanfare... let's begin!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0