The Neighbor

'Let's go next door'
but the Neighbor is looking over the hedges
August is the cruelest month
and when he sings the blues
he sings it to his dog
Maybe I should go round
'You have a nice voice, want to dance?'
but his catch phrase isn't that interesting
If I knew his name
Maybe I would drop by
and leave a note
his fence dips low, just enough to put my head off
Is that him behind the jasmine?
looking awkward
searching for an answer
to some question
singing a love song
that has no end
It just dribbles off his tongue
and falls flat
'Pick up that tempo'
Maybe there will time later
I think that is him now
knocking on my door
a cigarette falling off his lips
I don't think I will answer
cause when I hear him singing
I know he loves himself

As the Sun this morning rose, Mother woke:
Her thoughtflowers reverently praised Him, while
Her treefingers danced delightfully
To the songs of love-birds in play.

The wind she helped comb Mother's lush hair,
And on it planted pretty pearldewdrops
Then, effortlessly, swiftly,
Laced it with browngreen leafy bows.

As she puffed her face with scents of Spring
The earthworms uncreased her earthy skin.
When all ready, she blushed warmly, and
Spun around shyly to half-hide from Him her beauty.

As the Sun this morning rose, Man woke:
In grumbling groans set off to work.

stepstomarrow
When granddaughter, Jada, was born with leukemia, a donor-match was located and Jada made a miraculous recovery. In honor of her grandaughter's health, Jeanna has decided to walk across the country (in the dead of winter) to raise awareness and build support for the bone marrow registry (all that's required is a cheek swab). Follow Jeanna's remarkable journey as she travels the United States by foot.

there is no world
no universe

there is only 
the one room
with only 
the one window
and the one set of drapes
and the one breeze
blowing across your face

there are no memories
just the sense 
that everything already happened
and you missed it

you were in the bathtub
soaking in fear

you forgot to rejoice
you had no memory
you had only the want

you know this
but remember

the want always wants

and when you can no longer serve the want

you'll be left alone by want
in the one room
with the one window
and the one breeze
with no memories
just a sense 
that everything already happened
and you missed it

ahead of you
the mountain looms larger
and this is cause for alarm
and behind you 
the echoes of laughter 
the warmth of a kiss upon your cheek
and this is cause for sadness

and yet
neither reach out far enough 
to touch you
and though they heckle from the sidelines
and intimidate with their cackles
they know their own limitations

the great fear 
of tomorrow 
and of yesterday 
is that you will realize 
in this moment
neither can touch you

You Are To Me

Like a drumbeat
Clear and loud
Through miles of fog and lots of sound
Like a lightbulb
Turning on:
Sharp relief from shadows

Caught between ending and starting
Days follow nights follow days
Moving and tumbling and reeling
Spinning circles inside a maze

Like a bird's wings
Opening up
To soar; to fall;
To hope for more
Like a motor's starting purr
A goodbye, a return, a chance
That's what you are to me

You're the sun out on the horizon
Rising or sinking, no one can say
You're the moon, orbiting an orbiting globe
And never seen in the day

You're like curry
Spicy and warm
Familiar and foreign
At once
And you're like a singer's
Encore song
The cherry on the whipped cream

We're caught between ending and starting
Our days follow nights follow days
We're moving and tumbling and reeling
Spinning circles inside out maze

There today no more than here yesterday:
Hearts who rush on express lanes, so to stay
Together - so little, more like apart,
more like least understanding of whose heart.

Whose heart we take whose heart that is offered,
If hearts know not to own? To whom owing
Promises of love, or unrequited
Dreams: No more, no less than hollow shells' songs.

Songs of mere promises, more sweetly sung
To empty ears? Eyes see not what is heard
By hearts that beat quick in vacuumed spaces:
Unheard, less than a love whispered in sleep.

In sleep, all men die and begin to dream
Of things they understand least; most by hearts,
Of love and songs sung for other hearts lived
There today no more than here yesterday.

Equal night; balance of Earth

Our symmetry is nature
the sweet color of spring, that winter brings

Magnetic; together by force

Your virtue is my flaw
your failing is my tact, opposites attract

Oceans merge into breathing rivers;
A new life is born

I hung my heart upon a string
hung my head and watched it swing
morbidly
I took it down
lifeless
and thus useful now

--Will I Dare Look In His Eyes?--
will I raise my gaze to meet the rays
ebbing from his ocean eyes?
will I meet the warmth
that pierces the storm
crashing on these craggy lies?
will I
do I
dare meet his eyes?
stand staring at another life?
the person that I almost was
before courage broke the jungle's laws?

Putting faith in humanity. . .
is like placing a rifle in your enemy's icy, hard hands

Letting them inside, sharing your secrets. . .
is like baiting them to pull the trigger

Letting down your guard and allowing them full access to the deep places of your mind unknown to man. . .

That's like ripping the rifle from their hands

pressing the barrel to your head

and pulling the trigger. . .

It's simply suicide.

taste_buds
Holidays provide a built-in excuse for indulgent entertaining. This all-purpose foodie community covers everything from homemade hangover cures to dinner party menus. Need quick advice? Get five-minute snack suggestions, low-fat ingredient substitutes, and even measurement conversions. Delicious recipes garnished with humorous advice. Yum.

naturesbeauty
Always on the lookout for compelling images, we were delighted to discover this flourishing community of artists who share a love of nature. Honoring the subject with photographs, paintings, sketches, prose, poetry, and other creative works, you'll be simultaneously riveted to your monitor and inspired to run helter skelter towards the nearest wooded dale.

Suddenly, I squeeze my eyes shut, like blocking the black hole
sucking all of reality
away into
the foamy screams
of the devouring sea.
I would sacrifice myself to deafness, like a thoughtful creature,
and gently place
my shaking hands
over your ears
with awkward grace.
Bring you closer to my lips, I want to share my thoughts
the safest way I think
would be as
slowly as we kiss,
remembering every moment.
It is in you and me, but we swore we did not see.
We did not hear what we did sing.
We did not speak what we do think.
How does this change the fervent heat
I feel under my clothes
like the rain
has no chance
to defeat and take control?
My heroine, I'm slowing down.
I'm amphetamine at a crawl.
Evil
has no chance,
at all,
to defeat
and take control.

dark,
romantic eyes
flash glances at me
as they slowly and tenderly
caress my body
with their warmth.

they stare deep into my soul
and i find myself
having to
look away
scared of the power
they have over
me.

this feeling causes fear
to spread throughout my body.
because while there is
so much to gain,
there's just as much to lose.

but i force myself to
refocus my eyes on yours.
because i know,
you'll never lead me astray.

- I meet your eyes
you don't even see me
You hardly respond
when I whisper
hello
Could be my soul mate
two kindred spirits
Maybe we're not
I guess we'll never
know

My own mother
you carried me in you
Now you see nothing
but what I wear
People ask you
how I am doing
You smile and nod
don't let it end
there

Put me
underneath God's sky and
know me
don't just see me with your eyes
Take away
this mask of flesh and bone and
see me
for my soul



alone