one to cool the heat
and one to heat the cool
but nature has its own
space heater
and the windows create
sunspots on the carpet
where me and the dog
like to lay when it’s cold
developingyoureye
thru my lense: Architecture
today i have two pictures
and not much of a poem.
these are parts of my childhood
home, in monochrome.
thru my lense: A Pop of Color
this one used to be my favorite
but i don’t think it is anymore
maybe purple is now
and the clutter in the background,
it’s always been there-
threatening my life
during the last two years
i’ve been removing it bit by bit,
but a lot isn’t mine to discard
and this thread, i used it
to mend a skirt and add a heart
and to stitch the tears in shoes
thru my lense: Treasure
a gift from my mom
on the day i was baptized
in a lake on a mountain
21 years old and celebrating
my second birthday, without knowing
there was another life in me
three weeks pregnant
and i didn’t suspect it yet,
two bodies baptized that day
years later, on a day that broke
my heart, i found it on the floor
how it got there, i don’t know
thru my lense: Big
but it doesn’t feel like it
on the inside,
instead it’s fairly cozy
like a large living room
and we’re all family
even though i’m newly adopted
and the pastor feels like a brother;
he’s about the same age
as one of my real brothers
we sing songs too loud
and i wanna dance
and twirl in my floor length skirt
Jesus is big ’round here
even though our church feels small
and the cross is just about life-size
thru my lense: Solitude
hilltop house and H,
it was only lonely
from a distance
up there i was anything
but alone
i was Miss California
and H, the judge and jury
i won,
but world peace wasn’t found
and the wind was wing-man
and i beautiful
and H innocent
even when i took my clothes off
in a lower level room
where someone else left theirs
lines from our lives were told
and still i covered certain lines
then we ran from the police
but maybe that last line
was only in my head.
what would have happened?
with many more minutes
with H’s hilltop house
with wind’s billowing breath
and life isn’t
always always about alliteration
(yes, i meant to type it twice)
*Note: I totally failed as far as the photography aspect of this, but the day was absolutely amazing and I wanted to write about it. I took this picture right after I got off the bus today; I told myself I would take a better one on the hike up, I forgot; I told myself I would take a better one at the top, I forgot; I told myself I would take a better one on the hike down, I forgot. I was too busy enjoying an amazing day with an amazing person to focus on taking an amazing photograph. But H did take a couple up top, so we do have photographic evidence of the day. It happened.
thru my lense: Connect
J has the best conversations
on this phone that has no battery
no service to lose his signal
his imagination’s reception is always clear
why is that as our phones get smarter
our minds dwindle
down so low that a 4 year old
can converse deeper than a 20 something?
thru my lense: Bliss
Poems, beats, caffeine.
mid-morning, midday, or midnight
a warm hug of words
a fire lit in my heart
smooth liquid to fill my belly
my belly that still squishes a little
two babies and not enough sit-ups
too busy cleaning up spit-up
but i like it like that, soft
a book full of words
written by old dead guys
probably a few chicks too
mostly words i’ve never heard
songs i can’t help but sing
dancing on the couch
in the middle of the night
while everyone else sleeps
thru my lense: Water
“water You turned into wine,
You opened the eyes of the blind”
the Church has perverted communion
a stale cracker dipped in grape juice
don’t get me wrong
i love the idea of the Lord’s supper
but wouldn’t it be better
if we actually communed?
why don’t we have a real supper?
a glass of wine, sure
and a slice of bread
but some pasta and a green salad too
cups of water
and mac and cheese
fresh fruit and Ritz crackers
for the picky kiddos
thru my lense: Street
i’ve arrived here and
i’ve departed from here
i’d say countless times, but
“countless times” is actually an impossible phrase
a few of the initials
have intersected my life here
crushes and friends
some drift soon away, some stay awhile
nearly two years
i’ve traveled here
usually on my way somewhere else
but sometimes i’ve lingered here
Anonymous in Cali 