Any Questions?

 

Again?

You say it's not April. I know. April, also known as poetry month. Yup. Here it is July and I'm posting a second new poem! I also did this the end of June. All I know is, when poems arrive, they arrive. And sometimes I feel compelled to share them.

  After Dinner

It's hot in the kitchen

The exhaust fan

Can't keep up

With eliminating

The heat from the now turned off stove

I open the refrigerator

And bask in the cool

Pushing out from its gleaming interior

Espying the dark chocolates

Filled with sea salt caramel

I reach in, my surreptitious fingers

Unwrapping the bitter sweetness

That melts into me

At first brittle, then flowing

And I imagine that taste

Might be like yours

It Loops!

Well, sort of. I should start at the beginning. If you ask me, an essential component of a road trip is the tunes. There must be music! Earlier this month I set off in an easterly direction across Washington, the skinny part of Idaho, Montana, a corner of Wyoming, finally ending up in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Having recently purchased all three of Hozier's CDs, I thought this time in the car would give me an opportunity to become more familiar with his genius inspired, intelligent, highly melodic catalog. In the very early morning hours (are we still in Montana?) I found myself driving into a brilliant sunrise as First Light, the final track on Unreal Unearth was playing. The soaring backup vocals fronted by Hozier's astonishingly soulful voice gave me chills while I was witnessing one bright morning of my own. The song ends with a few bars of acoustic guitar that left me feeling a bit sad that this spiritual, emotional, and philosophical journey of an album had concluded. Then this happened. The CD player in my car doesn't stop at the end of the final track. If you don't eject the disc it simply begins again, and we are launched into De Selby (Part 1). At last when all of the world is asleep. It did indeed seem as if all the world was asleep, with the exception of me on an eerily deserted stretch of highway. I momentarily felt as if I was in a dream. Unreal Unearth is a musical Mobius strip. All things might end, but we begin again. Thank you, Andrew Hozier-Byrne, for a most magical soundtrack to a very long drive.

   

On the Beach

Somebody built this way cool sand castle. All I did was take a picture of it.

 

Don't Let This Happen

Project 2025 absolutely must not be enacted in this country. If you are a woman, a worker, a veteran, a person of color, LGBTQ+, really anyone who is not wealthy, white, male, and Christian, this doctrine will ruin your life. Find a copy and read it. The Heritage Foundation created Project 2025, it serves as a template for what a second Trump presidency will look like. Do you know or have a child who is on an IEP in school? That will end. Is your current medical insurance Medicare? That will end. The Social Security you paid into over the course of your working life that you deserve will end. The tax-exempt status The Heritage Foundation enjoys is violated by the fact that they are involved in politics. If you love freedom and democracy and believe no one is above the law, vote. Vote Blue because your life and livlihood depend upon it. 

Contradiction?

Album 1, Track 4

Honey, there is no right way.

Album 3, Track 10

If there was anyone to ever get through this life with their heart still intact they didn't do it right.

Honey, there is no right way. If there was anyone to ever get through this life with their heart still intact they didn't do it right. Honey, there is no right way. If there was anyone to ever get through this life with their heart still intact they didn't do it right. Honey, there is no right way.

You can see where this is going. We are caught in a logic maelstrom from which we cannot be extricated. At least he calls her honey. Enjoy.

Simply Execrable

Message in a Bottle. What can I say. Perhaps the least original remark is that viewing this 1999 movie is two hours and six minutes of my life I will never get back. Though every second of screen time devoted to Paul Newman and Illeana Douglas almost makes it worth the painfully trite and miserable ending that didn't have to go that way! 

Jesussufferingfuckshitballssonofabitchmotherfucker! 

What is the point of bringing two lonely people together using a preposterous (but totally romantic) plot device when you're just going to wring every treacly teardrop of sentimental claptrap out of missed opportunities and shitty timing? When the credits at last began to run I understood everything. Nicholas Sparks. The man responsible for the novel this movie is based on. Wait, it seems he is half responsible for the screenplay as well. I think it's best I avoid any of his work for the rest of my life. All I have to say is, a way better movie could have been made using the Police's 1979 hit song of the same name as source material. It has a far superior ending. And a better beat. You could dance to it. Pardon me while I head to the kitchen. I need a bucket of lemon sorbet to cleanse my palate of this pointless movie.

Birthday View

 

Weird Human Interactions

 I had a short list of just five items that I needed to grab at the grocery store. I scored an excellent parking space and ventured inside. In the produce section I saw a woman drop her sun hat on the floor. I was an aisle over so it took me a minute to get over to it and scoop it up. I then proceeded to stalk this elderly couple for half the length of the store so I could return her hat. I called out to them several times but they either didn't hear me or decided to ignore the crazy woman in hot pursuit of them. When I finally got her attention she was very happy to have her hat back. They both continued to thank me profusely and followed me down the cereal aisle. The man then extended his hand in which he was gripping a five dollar bill. He wanted to pay me for returning his wife's hat! I said, no, no, not necessary, I was happy to do it. They thanked me again and turned around to finish their shopping. Things were pretty normal until I was at the self checkout. As I was leaving, a man who had two small children in his cart pointed at my shirt and said, that's me. Did I mention that I was wearing my David Bowie shirt? I was. I replied, you're David Bowie? He said no, just David. I responded, oh, good, because he's dead. He said, my condolences, and made a sweeping gesture for me to precede him through the exit doors. Both of these encounters left me feeling odd. I also felt myself longing for a more substantial connection with another human. One that cuts out the small talk and goes directly to soul searching questions. An interaction that would leave me smiling instead of puzzled. I'm out of practice. But I remember this sort of thing fondly.

Transparency

 

Failure

I lasted six months with my resolution to purchase no clothing. Half a year, not so bad as far as most resolutions of the new year go. I have fully rationalized this tumble off the resolution wagon. (happy birthday to me!!) I'm going on vacation. And it's nice to have a couple, well, three actually, new things to wear. Three breezy, comfortable linen tops for the summer. One was purchased with the Kohl's cash I recently was awarded and the other two were paid for with a gift card. So it wasn't a budget-straining shopping trip. I know, my resolution wasn't about the money. It was about curbing excess and wearing what I have. Let's see how I do the rest of the year. Maybe I'll successfully hop back on the wagon. You never can tell.   

Tis July!

Birthday month has arrived. I have purchased champagne. I am almost done painting. Did I tell you I have been painting? Pics later. The lawn, or the patchy growth of weeds and grass masquerading as a lawn, needs mowing. So many long, lovely mornings outside with tea and toast this summer already. SCOTUS has completely gone off the rails with today's ruling. Just snuck that depressing little tidbit in at the end. These are hard times for us optimists.