Waiting to take the cat to the vet

We usually don*t board the cat at Christmas.  This year, when we*re gone, the counter tops will be installed.  So instead of staying in the basement, the cat will be at the vet*s.

Soon and very soon

We will take the cat

To stay

With the vet.

He is completely unaware

Of the plans,

Curled up

In my lap,

Purring

Eyes at half mast.

The cat carrier waits

In the partial kitchen.

It waits.

I wait.

The cat is perfectly content.

Just wait.

The running of the angels

Every year the pageant is different.  Of course it is.  This year the angels took the cake.

The angels entered this morning

Stage center.

At rehearsal yesterday,

The angels appeared

In silence,

Surprised the Angel of the Lord

No end.

This morning

We had

The running of the angels.

Stage center.

They pounded

Toward the manger,

Haloes and wings

Bounced with every step.

The angels

Were not be missed.

First they were heard on high

From the choir loft,

Then came

The running of the angels.

Ships

All of a sudden I find myself humming I Saw Three Ships... Never thought of myself as one of the ships (or rowboats or life rafts).  Hmmm.  With the home front discombobulated from renovation, we bought one of those Walgreens tabletop trees for the corner of the family room.  This means not unpacking all the Christmas things into the midst of the kitchen supplies in the family room.  My daughter had a crazy math teacher the first part of the term... she retired November 1 (TBTG).  What was incomprehensible in September and October became comprehensible with the new teacher.  I see possibilities on the horizon.

I am a ship:

A frigate,

A rowboat,

Sometimes a mere

Life raft,

Sail pieced together

From all the old t-shirts

In the bottom dresser drawer.

Sometimes the wind blows

Fills the sail.

I move.

I am a frigate,

A rowboat,

A life raft

At sea.

There is land on the horizon.

I intuit

Possible

Safe

Harbor

When I finally

Arrive.

If the world ends today

It seemed easier somehow to leave the plastic film on the new back doors until the construction was finished.  We had our first snow last night.  I woke up at 4:30 AM.  When I came downstairs, the snow called out.  I saw it only dimly through the plastic on the back doors.  The cat and I removed enough film on one door to see the backyard and snow, pre-dawn.  If the world ends today, it seems best to see things full-on.

If the world ends today

Or simply,

Or not so simply,

Begins again,

It seems imperative

To remove the plastic sheets

From the new glass doors;

To see the snow layered

On the back patio

In its most basic fullness

As it shines pre-dawn

White wet cold

Grass still poking through

(Not much snow)

(granted)

But if the world ends today,

First the plastic

Must be removed,

The entirety

Of layered snow

Seen

Appreciated for its snow-ness.

If the world ends today

Or simply begins again,

First it is time

For the plastic

To be removed.

We are leaving the turtle in charge

I know Christmas looks different every year...  but this year it is way different.  More to learn.  Always more to learn.  We are leaving the turtle in charge of the countertops.

The kitchen is still

In the family room

In boxes.

The Christmas tree

(Artificial)

Is still

In the basement. 

Once finals and grading

Are done,

The tree will go

In the corner

Opposite the boxes

Of kitchen supplies.

The silverware will move

Under the TV

To make room for the tree.

I sit and write

In the raspberry chair.

At semi-regular intervals

I take time

To stick my fingers in my ears

Sing la la la

Then la la la

Again.

It*s seasonal,

Doncha know?

We will move the silverware

This weekend.

The countertops

Will be installed

When we*re in Florida

After Christmas.

The cat will spend the holidays

At the vet.

We are leaving the turtle

In charge.

This is for you: you know who you are

It takes me awhile to learn to trust other people.  I believe a large part of this is nature: the way I have been wired since birth.  I am constantly amazed at others who trust easily.  And envious.  It just doesn*t seem to be the way I was made.  The way I am wired does have a flip side to it... I have a sharply developed intuitive sense.  This allows me to sit with and hear others, even things they might be hinting at.  Sometimes I don*t know where my questions come from.  Still... I take it as gift.  God-given gift.  Even when I am envious of others who trust easily.

So this one is for someone who has sat with me hour by hour by hour... waiting and watching,  And waiting and listening.

This is for you:

You know who you are.

Let everything begin

Anew.

It already has

It already did

Even before

I fully noticed

The ending.

This is for you:

You know who you are.

Nothing magical

But yet it is;

Nothing on the mystical order

But still

It is.

This is for you:

You know who you are.

Things needed to be un-strung,

Then re-strung.

The tuning has begun.

Eventually

There may be a song played.

There may even

Be words.

Possibly rhyme or reason.

This is for you:

You know who you are.

Improvement

Sometimes the oddest things show we are beginning to see things differently.

Things begin to improve.

Again I notice the collapsed

Blow-up

Snowmen

On people*s lawns

As I drive to work

Today.                                           

I consider the oddities.

Once again

I am amused.

I will see those same snowmen

Lighted

Full of air

On my way home this evening

In the dark.

Tomorrow I will see them again

Collapsed.
Tomorrow
They may look
Even funnier.