Tuesday, May 16, 2017

In between

I have never been an easy traveler. I have never "rushed" well. I do not "rush well" in particular, these days. How is it possible to lose a walker? Let me tell you.

Still in preparation
For the trip.
I am not
An easy traveler.
I left my walker
In women’s T-shirts
At Target,
Had to ask an employee
To find it for me.
He did.
I left my walker
In the parking lot.
We drove back
To find it.
We did,
In the lost
And found.
We listened
To comedy sketches
On the radio
To and from,
Wrote our own sketches
In between.
I am not
An easy traveler.
It helps to laugh
In between.

Monday, May 15, 2017

Clearance

Getting ready. No, we have not packed yet. Yes, we are getting ready to pack.

In the morning
I clear my brain
By writing.
It surprises me
What has been left
Overnight.
Just as
It surprises me
What leftovers remain
In the refrigerator.
Oh
I did not remember
We had that
For dinner
Three days ago.
Time
To get with
The clearance
Before we leave
For the trip.
Yes
That is recyclable.
Yes
That is trash.
Yes
Those are cats
Who need
The loveys only we
Can give.

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Particulars

So many more things to plan these days. Back then it was just me. Back then so many things did not occur to me. My father told me he could get anywhere in the world in 24 hours. Now I wonder what good 24 hours would have done. 

All the particulars
Of such a trip.
I did this
Much more easily
When I was 19,
Took the Orient Express
From Paris
To Athens,
By myself,
With a train compartment
Of Germans.
We spoke in sign language.
We pointed.
We shared water
And oranges.
Oh I did this
Much more easily
Then.
I did not know
To panic
When my passport
Was confiscated
As we entered
Yugoslavia.
I did not know to breathe
A sigh of relief
When the passport
Was returned.
I know
So much more
Now.
I know
So much less
Now.

Saturday, May 13, 2017

More preparation...check

Norway in a Nutshell...fyords and mountains and trains and buses and boats...

Sump pumps...check
Turtle…check
Cats…check
Compression socks…check
Dry cleaning…check
Oslo via Stockholm…check
Still more to do
Glad we don’t leave
Until Tuesday night.
Amazing this is only
A two week trip.
I will miss
Being home
But glad to travel
See my daughter
And friends.

Friday, May 12, 2017

Order

Ah...new beginnings. It is vital to keep beginning, then beginning again, even if it means getting up at 7:30.

She comes
Every other Friday
Makes us get up
At 7:30.
It would not be
Our preference
But this is what fits
In her schedule.
I make the coffee
Write the check
Make sure
The recycling
Is in the bin.
My beloved makes sure
The car is moved.
We both make sure
We are dressed.
She comes
Every other Friday
Makes us get up
At 7:30.
She creates order
Out of chaos
A place
To begin again.
The house smells good
When she
Is gone.
We begin
Again.

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Kosher

We got seats with more leg room this time around. We did not fuss with the menus. I am excited and apprehensive. The turtle is boarding with our son. We have hired someone to care for the cats.

Are you excited?
Are you apprehensive?
Do you know
What you are?
I know the trip
Will be better
Than the last one,
Squished in the back row
With seats
That did not lean back,
With meals
That were all
Unappealing
Except for possibly
The vegetarian option.
I ordered kosher.
I understood kosher
Was always better.
The flight attendant
Was confused
At this cross-wearing person
Who did not care
If she opened the cover
Of the meal.
In the end
The kosher meal
Was still
Airline food.
Am I excited?
Am I apprehensive?
Do I know
What I am?
I will be
What I am
No less
No more
No kosher meal.

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Sparrows

I have to look up sparrows every time I see them, every time I hear them. 

I know sparrows
Can tell one
From another.
We are the ones
That think of them
As plain
Brown
With maybe
One distinctive
Marking.
They are anything but
Plain
One sparrow
Knows another.
I have to look them up
When I see them,
When I hear them.
Someone has decided
What determines
White-throated
White-crowned
Song.
They have
No such terms
Each sparrow knows
Its own kind.

Monday, May 8, 2017

Pomegranate seeds

For Laurie Michaels, with whom I share a throne, with whom we share thrones with so many others.

I majored
In Classics.
I did not think
Of Persephone
Except the six pomegranate seeds
She ate
In the Underworld.
They made her Queen
Of Hades.
What of the six seeds
She ate
In the world above.
Surely she had a throne
There.
Here.
There.
Here.
The crown moved
From the Underworld
To the Overworld
Until it all became
One world
Really
If we look
If we notice
Where the throne is
Today.

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Men's socks

Ah, the suppositions we all make. Ah, the kin we find...when we're looking

The salesman
In the wheelchair
Wanted to direct me
To women’s socks.
I told him men’s socks
Would do the trick
With my braces.
Women’s socks are too thin.
He nodded
Knowingly.
On the way out the door
The salesman
Wished us a good day.
My beloved told me
The salesman
Wore braces too.
I find kin
Everywhere
Some in hidden braces,
Some with walkers,
Some in wheelchairs.
The man in front of us
In church today
Cannot chew.
I am grateful
I can.

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Some will stay

Therapy is interactive. Sometimes people stay. Sometimes they don't.

When people
Come to me
 I ask
What they would like
To focus upon.
It is different
For every single person.
No matter
What my training is.
Where does it hurt?
What brings you here?
We’ll start there.
Maybe we’ll move on.
Maybe we won’t.
Some will stay.
Some won’t.
I never know.

Friday, May 5, 2017

Garage

We are taking this...one project at a time.

In search of
Someone to stare
Into the garage
No judgment
No extra words
Submit a quotation
For most of it
To go.

That
Will be gift
Number one.

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Blog spam

I wondered where it went.

Suddenly
My own blog posts
Disappeared
From my inbox.
Someone in Google land
Decided my writing
Was spam.
I only appreciated Spam
When I went camping
As a Girl Scout
And then
Only fried
Over a campfire.
I retrieved the writing ,
Claimed it back
Into my inbox.
Life in computer land
Is more complex
Than I knew.

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Cat person

We meet the person who will potentially take care of the cats while we are gone. Juneau will meet him lovingly. Calli will most likely hide. She looks like a different animal since her "groom" or "kind of groom." We have never had a cat who needs grooming before. She was part of a litter of "woods kittens." Now she looks like a shorn sheep.

We meet the cat person
This evening.
The older cat
Will love him.
He loves everyone.
The younger cat
Will most likely hide
Upstairs.
She takes forever
To warm up
To anyone.
Her groomer
Clipped the mats
From her fur.
She now looks
Like a partially shorn
Sheep.
She would not sit still
For the whole groom.
We meet the cat person
This evening.
He will meet
One cat.
The sheep cat
May never appear.

Monday, May 1, 2017

The roof

Odd the things we worry about. We take care of the things we can. The rest we leave to nature. Of course this does not mean we don't worry about nature. 

We will travel.
A neighbor will watch
The house
To ensure
It does not
Burn down.
The cats
Will spend time
At the vet’s.
The turtle
Will be
With our son.
We pray for no rain
Like the rain
We have had
The last three days.
Oddly
We pray for the roof.
We pray the house
Will be here
When we return.
No fire.
No water.
We know
The living things
Are cared for.
But the house
The house!
The roof!
Oddly the roof.
Not even the basement.
But the roof.