Underground ocean

The Italian space agency has discovered an underground ocean on Mars. When they look at us, what are they interested in?

When Martians
Look at us
What is important
To them?
We seek water
As a sign
Of life
Bur Martians
What do they seek?
Or maybe
They do not seek
Anything
Content to live
Content to love
Content
To fish
In their own
Underground oceans.

Strength

Strength is more than genes.

The family tree
Is rooted
In a host
of strong women
Some of whom
Have borne children.
Most were dependent
On things other
Than
The gene pool
Their genes
Swim
In the lives
Of their sisters.
Strength
Surpasses
Genes.

Mahjongg

We only played Mahjongg up at the Cabin up North at the Lake. This year we'll figure out the rules again.

We spent part
Of every summer
Building
The Great Wall
Of China
With bamboo
And ivory tiles,
At least
I think
They were ivory.
Now
I do not remember
The rules
Yet the set
Will find its way
To the same Lake.
We will try
To figure out
How to play
Again.
Playing
Is a good thing
Even if the rules
Are not
Remembered.

Monarch plus some

The backyard continues to be a spectacle of life.

I woke
To a monarch
She discovered
The milkweed.
Then the robin,
Followed
By her almost
Fledgling
Not quite ready
To leave
Not quite ready
To feed himself.
He hopped
And shook
And opened
His mouth.
She obliged
Like mothers do
Everywhere.

Waiting for the crab apples

I think this will be a crab apple year. This does not happen every year. I think the animals wait in the bushes for the crab apple tree to "do its thing."

We wait for the crab apples
To appear.
They bring
The animal kingdom
With them:
Squirrels
Coyotes
Foxes
Possums
Even the occasional
Raccoon
We never knew
How many creatures
Ate crab apples
Now we do
We wait to see
Who else waits.

Richness

Sometimes we only name older people as wise. Indeed I have known wise babies.

How many years
Does it take
To become wise?
Maybe it's not years
That count
But merely
Life lived.
Maybe it's not
The numbers
But instead
The richness
No matter
What
One does.
No matter
How long
One lives.

The driver yesterday

More adventures, Who knew?

Listened
To NPR
Laughed
At the same things
I found funny.
I hope
I get her again
Too.

I write to figure out

Adventures continue.

I write
To figure out
What comes next.
My driver yesterday
Picked me up
In the evening
Because
I was such good company
In the morning.
She has been driving
A cab
For nineteen years.
If I am blessed
I will be picked up
By her
Again.
She called me
A lovely lady.
She is lovely
As well,
I write
To figure out
Who comes next.

Wheels

My red four-wheeled walker carries me. With wheels I go most anywhere.

Where do these wheels
Go?
I learn
New options.
So many people
Are surprised to learn
They have options.
Wheels
Give new options.
I explore those options
Learn
For myself
There are more
Than I ever
Dreamed.
With wheels
I roll
Everywhere.

Group interview

I toyed with the idea of looking for a job. Now it seems this is not just any job.

When I arrive
I realize
The group interview
Is all of them
And
All of us.
No one
On the spot
Just
All of us
And
All of them.
It was a larger
Interview
Than I've ever known.
I even forgot
Who was
Being interviewed
Who interviewing.
We sat in a circle
Interspersed.

Movement

The world watched. No tweets came from our White House. I can't help but notice. But the world? The world watched. Prayed.

As the world expands
I realize
Again
Nothing
Stays the same.
The boys were rescued
In Thailand
From water-filled
Caves.
The world watched.
Prayed.
Rejoiced.
A rescue worker
Died.
His family
Grieves.
The world expands
Again
Nothing stays
The same.
Rescue
Loss
Movement
If we but look
Pay attention.

The three of them

For Sawyer, Liv and Theo. Watching, watching, watching.

The three of them
Are not alike
And yet they are
Exactly
Alike.
Not triplets
Indeed
From
Different families
Yet they grew up
With enough
Of the same DNA.
They are now spread
All over
The country
I defy the world
Not to change
One bit
At a time.

Filled with life

We look big to small. We are not done looking here.

The backyard
Is filled
With life.
No wonder
We could not move
From here.
From ash
To crab apple
Down to milkweed
With its chaw marks
On the leaves.
It seems everyone
Loves
Milkweed,
Not just monarchs.
We thought
We had planted
A butterfly garden.
It seems we planted
A garden
For everyone.
We watch
We wait
We see
Who will come.

Happenstance or not?

What's deserved. What's not?

In college
I majored in Classics
With one other
Classics major.
We split the award
For Classics majors.
Happenstance
Or not?
I was interviewed
For readiness
To attend seminary
At a summer camp
In the room I shared
With another woman
My underwear
Was in the middle
Of the floor.
Does God speak to you?
He asked
I haven't seen
Any burning bushes lately
I said
They sent me
To seminary.
Happenstance
Or not?
In seminary
I received
The Women's Board Award
There were
Two women.
Happenstance
Or not?
I also received
The Hebrew Prize
I was the only one
Who took Hebrew
That year.
I got solid C's.
Happenstance
Or not?
So many things
Happenstance
Or not?
I have still
Not seen any
Burning bushes.

Thistle seed?

Just because we name something thistle...it ain't necessarily so.

The thistles
Finally flower
We have been waiting
Wondering
Which insect
Which bird
Needs
The thistle
For sustenance.
No
It is not the goldfinch.
Thistle seed
Is a misnomer.
The seed
Finches pine for
Comes from Asia.
Or Africa
It is hardly
From thistle
At all.
There
The natural history
Lesson
For today.
Which insect
Which bird
Will visit.
We will watch.

Trenches

Because I am preaching through my blog these days, I listen to sermons and think what illustrations I would use, if it were me. Today I thought about "Christmas in the Trenches" and the singing soldiers on both sides.

The sermon
Offered trenches
The ones we dig
Between us
The ones which pile
Mounds
And mounds
Of dirt.
Trenches seem
Just as bad
As walls
Or mounds.
Both offer obstacles
To climb over
Or under
Or through.
We occupy
Both sides
Of those trenches.
Stare into each others'
Eyes
Like icons.
We are Jesus
For each other
If we look.