Monday, December 30, 2013

Tongues Afire

I sing my praise in foreign tongue,
In language that no land can claim,
With archaic words that Time’s forgot,
In an ancient slang.
In perfect meter, and perfect diction,
I praise the properties of heat and friction,
And the hollow of your thigh,
The perfect tension of your breastbone,
The deep resonance of the baritone waves
You press from your throat,
And the other frequencies
That undulate me
When your love sighs.

Oh, keep me singing
In present tense
Til all my garbled praise
Makes sense,
Until my wells run clear
And sweet
And dry.


-jenn long

River Don't Know

River don’t know
That the shortest distance
Between two points
Is straight.
He meeee-anders
And winds his way down around
Through the meadow
And the Sweet Gum Trees.
And like that long and crooked finger
That tickes, “Come on,”
River surely do go
Through the lowest of places—
The valleys, and down,
And on,
Makin’ his way to the deeps.


-jenn long

Vanity Sam

We swirl around busy,
Out and in,
Like any of it matters
And back again.
We get so focused
And serious,
When all we need’s a sammich
And a pot to piss in,
And we could be happy with that….
…..and really, might never miss the pot.


-jenn long

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

.....and i had plans

….and I had plans.
I thought I’d put a load in the washer,
So I could have clean towels, someday.
But I saw holiness alive in that place
And had to create a sacred delay.
For scriptures really are no use
To one who sees
The Lord’s face everywhere.
Just as washers are superfluous
To One with no need of towels.

And I find I have no need
No lack, no want of anything.
For I am full of Love, Today,
And Peace,
And Fire,
And everything Good.

I am free from every result,
And do what I do from the Love that I feel
Coursing through what’s left of me—
The Love of Life,
The Love of You.


-jenn long

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Sacred Kimono Painting

I stand before your holy statue,
And like a child,
I’ve drawn on you—
Watercoloured
Bright and fuchsia blossoms
Down your cheeks
And the bridge of your nose.

My untaught hands
Explore your body,
Seek to feel
And understand,
While I look
To see if anyone’s watching,
And pretend to paint
Your kimono again.


-jenn long

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Greenbean Cherry Pie

I dreamed last night of the important people,
And how I kept trying to plead my case,
To explain why I had done the things I had
And be justified in their eyes.
But Her eyes didn’t have the time
And couldn’t look at the likes of me
For very long, for She had
Better things to think about,
And others, more important than herself
To try and look good for.

And so I went back to my mud
And made a greenbean-cherry pie,
And after thinking about it all,
I ate it by myself.


-jenn long

Friday, December 20, 2013

BedBoat

I'll fantasize with you.
I'll pretend
The bed is floating off again,
Adrift in a lonesome sea
Somewhere down in the south pacific,
Where tropical winds are less specific,
And the moon is twice as full.

The waves can lull us off tonight.
There's nothing else
But you
And the bright love
That you beam my way.


-jenn long

Blaaaaaaa Blaaaaaaaa Blaaaaa

The last time I saw him,
He was poorly drawn,
Underfed, and limbs were starting to turn.
Hooves were growing where his hands had been,
And buds of horn topped his temples shorn.

The pupils of his eyes were going square,
And on his body, coarse and matted hair grew,
And as I said goodbye and turned to go,
The hardheaded thing bleated
And said hello.


-jenn long

Thursday, December 19, 2013

I Love You

There is a power that finishes off
Poverty’s earthborn lack.
It brings to level the low places,
Completes each unfinished task,
Fills the gap,
And drives you to the heart of heaven,
But it will not bring you back
To the squalor that it found you in
Or the rumpled paper sack
That you called lunch.

There is a power
That fulfills
And never lets you down.
It drives you to your knees
And it gets you out of town.
It puts your feet on clouds of cotton,
Your bodice in velvet gowns,
And wraps you up
And swaddles you
Until you get enough.

This power brings tears
To mighty men,
Brings smiles to lonely eyes,
Brings a ray of golden hope
To dark and overcast skies,
And if you never, never did
Know this power true,
I hope you know—
Someway, somehow,
How much that I love you.


-jenn long

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Or Should I Seek Another?

Tell me. Tell me— on the wind.
Tell me on the sly.
Tell me who you are again.
Tell me. Please don’t lie.
Tell me true.
Is it you?
Or should I seek another?

                Others who are full of faith
                Say you come to them in dreams.
                Come to me, and show your face.
                Ride the living beams of light
                That shine outside my window.

Tell me. Tell me— on the wind.
Tell me on the sly.
Tell me who you are again.
Tell me. Please don’t lie.
Tell me true.
Is it you?
Or should I seek another?

I see a brilliant flash of light—
                A memory when I was 5—
                Unrequited gift of life—
                Tells me what I’m all about.
                Tells me true.
It is you,
And there is no other.

On the breeze
He tells me true,
“I AM you,
And there is no other.”


-jenn long

Phantom of the Nocturna

You're here,
Beside me,
Warm and real.
And then,
In the middle of the night
The devil comes
And steals you away from me.

I am stunned
And without a voice
And fade into dark and fitful sleep.

But somehow,
You break loose
And return.
Up and by my side
You nestle in,
Curled up
In the curve of my naked belly,
And I hold you in silence,
Until the daylight comes,
And steals you away again.


-jenn long

Cloudbursts

This was my favorite kind of day—
Where the sun bursts in brilliant streaks
From behind the mottled clouds.
Yellow rays symmetric
Angle perfectly
Against the rain,
And show the hidden beauty
Of revelation within the darkness.

A million and one things
Roll in to only two:
You're in love with me,
And I'm in love with you.
And all of it together—
The bliss and misery,
Magnetizes both the poles,
And makes our worlds go round.


-jenn long

Monday, December 9, 2013

Depolarized

I wouldn’t give a nickel for my journey now.
I wouldn’t give a dime for yours.
I don’t have a quarter,
And there aren’t any phones,
So I can’t call a soul who cares.
But if I had a dollar,
Or five, or ten,
I’d go to Mirawasu again,
And again,
Until my current depolarized
And my head hit the back of the floor.
Then I’d stomp all my currency into plough shares,
And grow corn and beans,
And I wouldn’t study war no more.
No more.
No.
I wouldn’t study anything.


-jenn long

Serious Love

Take my hand
In a strong way,
Like a stiff drink,
Or a potent mint.
Pull me to the place
Where you exist essentially.

For I am in need
Of serious love.
Please, don’t be afraid of me,
For I have no power to harm.
But you, possess yourself.
Possess me, too.
Hold me in the deep recesses
Of your mind.
Let me live in the chambers of your heart
And pulse a fair tonicity
Through your very veins.

Let me find you
Beyond the tips of your fingers.
Let me see who is there,
Up, over your shoulder blades,
Between your ribs,
And deep within the caduceus
Of your breastbone.

Take my hand,
And put it gently o’er your face.
Let these blind eyes
Have a look at who it is
That lurks, so sweetly, and dark,
In my shadow as I dance.


-jenn long

Sunday, December 8, 2013

The Sweet Herbs

I don’t mind sharing the air with you,
Eyebright,
Or with you,
Feverfew.
So I’ll just rest in the Coxcomb here,
Like the lilies and mandrakes do,
Until the Ladybugs whisper
That it is safe to go home.
Then I’ll breathe a breath or two,
And then, I’ll surely go.

-jenn long

Every Pocket Has A Silver Lining

I have a silver-lined pocket.
It’s tiny—
Just my size.
But it can heal any sickness,
Rectify any malfease.

Come and put one finger in.
See what you can find
To heal you whole,
And fix your soul,
And make you smile again.


-jenn long

Belly Flop

Even my olfactory sensors
Like to play tricks on me.
For I could swear I smell you,
Though I can plainly see
That you are nowhere near.
And yet the pheromones swim inside my head.

I climb the high dive, anyway,
To see if you’ll notice me,
And when I reach the top,
I see you, right there,
On the life guard chair.
I pause for just a moment,
Feeling like a swan.
Though usually I belly bust,
I breathe deep and take the plunge.
And now I’m going under,
All the way,
Ten feet deep.
I see the other swimmers
From their necks down,
Kicking their legs and feet.

And now I’m coming up for air,
And push up beside you and plop
Down and bask beside you,
Unabashed,
Belly still red
From my belly flop.


-jenn long

Hiding Becomes Her

I was hiding under the table
When you came
And made love to me.
Then we lay together there
And looked up
At the graffiti underneath.
We took turns reading
The vulgate wisdom tucked away.
We cried at the beauty
And the truth
Until we laughed again.
And then we stayed
In each other’s arms
And, My Love,
You loved me so,
Until the day became the night,
And night became the day,
And I became myself,
And now, even hiding becomes me.


-jenn long

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

The Games People Play

I’d like to know the name
Of the game you play,
And, maybe just a few of the rules.
I won’t commit too many to memory.
I’ve a strange inclination
You change them.

I see the chalk lines drawn out here,
But don’t know if I’m in bounds or out.
And now I hear the referee’s whistle,
But don’t know what that’s about.
I have a strong urge
To ask someone for time,
But is this the beginning
Or the end of the game?
Maybe I’ll try one long shot at the buzzer.

If I make it,
Everyone cheers.
If I don’t,
I’ll disappear into the locker room
And flush myself down the toilet

Again……


-jenn long

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Well, Will Ya?

Will you love me
If I never ‘mount ta much
In this ole world?
Will ya love me
If I never find myself,
Or what I’m looking for?
Will ya love me
In the mornin’?
Will ya love me
In the day?
Will you love me
When the evenin’ comes
To steal your heart away?

Will ya love me
When I’m grumpy?
Will ya love me
When I’m blue?
Will ya love me
When I embarrass myself,
Or, when I embarrass you?
Will ya love me
When I’m silly,
Or when, occasionally, I’m true?
Will you love me
When I’m so intent,
And all I want is you?

Well, will  ya…….?


-jenn long

Monday, December 2, 2013

WordGames

Do you like me putting words into your mouth?
I could put some other things in there.
But I don’t want to stuff you full
Of anything you might not want,
And so,
I’ll just keep up both ends of this conversation
In my mind, until
I hear from you, and know
What it is that you would really say,
And what it is that you might really do,
And I am sure that I will be surprised,
For I don’t think I know you well at all,
But I sure think I’d like to.


-jenn long

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Dark Quiet

Sometimes I want to be quiet,
Like the black of the night on the plains,
Swallow the rush of the tempest,
And rain a silent rain,
Engulf the world in the darkness
Of the comfort of my warm mouth,
Then spread the hush
With the out and the in
Of the rhythm of my breath.

Sometimes I want to close my lips,
My heart, my head, my eyes,
And listen to the quiet dark
Of the moonless, eastern skies.


-jenn long

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Pure Heart

There's nothing trite about a pure heart
Working tirelessly for the world.
There's nothing mundane about a brilliant one
Seeking an honest day’s cure.
There's nothing like a ray of a shining one
Falling in
Thru your window,
Lighting your heart,
And raising the bar
Of sweetest expectation.

-jenn

I Wonder

Cherries bloom at the cemetery.
They are the stuff of flowers gone by—
The pitied seeds of an internal hope
For white blossoms in an eternal blue sky.
And I don't know where I'm going with this,
Much less where the thought will take me,
But I wonder about you,
Sometimes,
Ya know?

-jenn

Wedding Tones

He called to say he was getting’ married,
And no, I was not invited to the wedding,
And, at that, I had to smile,
For I knew exactly why.
He said he didn't figure me for the marrying type,
And every preacher needs a wife,
And he didn't figure me for the churchy type, either,
And no, I never have been.

But he wanted to know
If we could keep
The lines of communication open,
And I've never been one to burn a bridge.
No, I never have been.


-jenn 

Saturday, November 23, 2013

You and Me and 7000 Others Who Haven't Bowed Their Knees to Baal

I think I'm the only one
With no ulterior motive.
I think I'm the only one,
But that just isn't true.
I think I'm the only one
Who doesn't push or manipulate.
I think I'm the only one,
But then again,
There's you.

You think you’re the only one
Unaffected by public opinion.
You think you’re the only one
That can really see.
You think you’re the only one
Beyond the fabric of consciousness.
You think you’re the only one,
But then again,
There’s me.


-jenn long

Healed

Sensory receptors inform me
Of pressure to my forehead.
I open my eyes to see an arm stretch forth
With a tiny little hand.
“Be healed in the name of the avatar,”
I hear as everything fades to black,
But I sleep with the power of a child,
And I dream the children’s dreams.

And though I itch and toss and turn
And sleep for god knows how long,
I wake with the flesh of an infant
And the light from the nursery of stars
Shining just beneath my eyelids,
And another, just under the skin of my heart,
Healed and ready to take on the world again—
This time filled with Love.


-jenn

Freedom of Choice

I stand atop Mt. Rushmore tonight.
A thousand falling stars pierce down
Through the atmosphere
With infinite wishes for me.
And I would rather have peace than a president.
And I would rather make love to you here,
In the epicanthic folds of a granite Abe Lincoln,
Than lie on the fine Egyptian cottons
Of a cowardly political bastard.

-jenn

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Frere Djenne

I am here,
But I’m asleep.
I’ll wake up
When, and if,
I need to.
You’ll see me
Flowing like a dream
In my seamless, sequined gown.
I’ll get up
To stir the porridge,
Feed the cat,
Or eat a pickle.
The world is my catbox
What need have I
For downtown?


-jenn long

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

In Memoriam

So she went ahead and died first.
All y’all sittin’ round, talkin' ‘bout it.
She went ahead on and blazed a trail
On the first astral freight train headed South,
Up through Cygnus, and the Southern Cross.
She went on ahead and died.
Six months ago she was forty-seven,
And still tryin' to please her crazy old daddy.
Now she’s forty-eight--
And gone.

-jenn long

Sunday, November 17, 2013

We Bless This Water

We bless this Water,
For its source
Is The Purest Beginning,
And each intricate symmetrical flake
Has melted into Today,
And never has even an Atom been wasted,
Much less a molecule.
 And even though we speed
Through the Sea of the Universe—
And leave a wake,
The tiniest droplet will adhere
And stay
On our fingers.

We bless this Water,
For no Word is void
Of the Power Inherent,
And whether it’s heard,
Or whether it’s whispered,
From the desperation of night,
Beautiful thoughts expulse solutes
That try to cloud, or dismiss
Or pollute the clarity
Of OurSelves and the Beings of Light we are.

We bless this Water
With The Great Love of Life
That flows through and supports
The Extra-cellular Matter,
That prepare themselves for Tomorrow
With Possibility and Chance,
And wait for The Coming Hour,
When they will roll
With the weighted die
To reverberate us with thirst
Beyond sorrow,
And out,
Into a taste of Sweet Waters,
Where our True Life flows
Hidden with Love.


-jenn long

Friday, November 15, 2013

Mathematical

Come to me, sweet, clear-headed Thought
Make yourself at home in this head of mine.
You seem, to me, wrapped in an almighty Love
And a grace of a thousand free wings.
Be my inverse
Til I can reciprocate,
And in going forth and multiplying,
We be One.
Then divide me by Nothing
And launch me straight
Through the bearing gates
Of Infinity.

And may our Love connect us so,
That as you send me, I’ll pull you, too,
And we will dance through the Galaxy,
DA2 and A1V,
Binary Stars—
That scorch the sky
And bring a tear to the dreamers’ eyes,
And a ray of hope,
That Love will launch them, too.


-jenn long

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Dreamlike Dreamlove

I dreamed that you were running down my hall,
And slid into my room in your sock feet.
You jumped into my bed and flounced about,
Until you’d covered yourself from head to toe,
And under the comfort of my love complete,
You swam like a sweet fish back deep and under water.
And natural as an alleycat who gets a taste
Of real livin’ up the heights of a forest tree,
You laughed yourself all the way to heaven’s bank,
Then danced and swam your way upstream to me.


-jenn long

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Eau de Me

I had some cologne when I was in college—
Smelled like a million dollar bill
All wrapped up in an old leather wallet
Of a man who was dressed to kill.
I only wore it on special occasions,
Like presenting a paper,
Or the first day of class,
Or for a second date
With that one I'd been chasin
Who'd finally noticed and asked.

I bought it at Malouf's,
And it lasted a decade,
And always caused quite a roundelay.
I think they quit making it.
I can't remember its name,
But I sure wish I had some, today.

-jenn long

Dust Bunnies

Be not deceived, Little Children,
Dust Bunnies are not from the dust or the Devil.
They are a sign of the pitter patter
Of the happy feet of children and dogs,
And frogs and guinea pigs,
Cat tails and whippoorwills,
And unfinished ghost stories.
And it is distasteful to sweep them into rubbish cans.
Proper handling requires
That one whisk them back up under the bed
Until metamorphosis is complete.

And what do they become?
Why nothing less than glass slippers,
And gallant white horses,
Magic straw and magic beans,
Which fly to repay the generosity
Of well-adjusted adults
And their aging, demigod parents.

-jenn long

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

In Her Place

I want a little place
Up off of the highway,
Just south of the brambles
Where I can burn trash--
Like my grandma's place was
After her husband died,
When she didn't have to pretend to like football,
Or to pretend not to.

She could read whatever she wanted to,
Like the Phenomenon of Man
Or the Epic of Gilgamesh,
Or other titles banned by the local library.
Hell, she could drive herself to Abilene and go to the library there if she wanted to.
She could do whatever the hell she wanted
Whenever the hell she wanted to do it,
Cause she'd outlived the fads of her day.
She'd outlived the curses,
And all the rest of her so called obstacles.
She'd outlived her problems,
And now she was out--
Living her life as her own.
Yeah.
I wanna place like that.


-jenn long

Him

He comes to me,
And when he can speak,
He tells me I am free.
And though it's taken five centuries
And 14 years,
Every star-crossed love
I've ever known
Clicks into place.
And all at once,
Love unlocks,
And life and beauty and meaning release,
And all is right in the universe
Just once
In a thousand lifetimes,
Today.

And he is my brother,
And he is my son,
And he is my lover,
My father, the one God.
He is my mother,
My sister, my friend.
Maybe
He is even me.
But he is Love,
And his love
Lives forever
In me.


-jenn long

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

I Learn From My Children

I learn from my children.
They are closer to innocence than I am.
I learn to wish impossible wishes
And to laugh implausible laughs,
And to bleat with my joyous outside voice.

I learn to giggle at the dirty things,
And to get big eyed at the wonders of bugs and frogs,
To cuddle when I can,
And to wrestle when I can't,
To cry when it hurts,
And to yell when I'm mad.

And I learn to love—
To completely depend
With every fiber of my being
On the pure radiated warmth
Of those I love,
And those who love me.


-jenn long

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Hitchin' a Ride on the Moon

You got a little head start toward the west
But I'm hitchin' a ride on the tail of the moon
And about the time you get snug in your bed
I'll come and bloom there
With the mimosas
And meet you face to face
And we can replay
That first innocent kiss
And waltz to the place in the night
Where it crept
Timid out of its shell
Then let's swim again
Free in the surf
Where the seahorses loped
And the Pegasus flew
And we'll close our eyes
And I'll dream of you
And love you
Again and again

-jenn long

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Take Me

O mysterious, dark, and swarthy,
Come to me on the night southwind.
Twirl me in the windowlight,
Pale as the moonbeams fare.
Take me.

Scatter my dream seeds.
Blow them. Blow them.
Spread them far, and spread them wide,
And gather me to yourself again
To see them bloom in the morningtide.
Then take me there.
Oh, take me.
Take me.


-jenn long

Saturday, October 12, 2013

One More Last Chance

We have one last chance at summer—
One more night to swim
Under the stars that tingle
The lake, most of them
Are dead already,
But their last light hasn't yet reached
The sands that burrow in
Under the waves.
They’re not ready yet to beach
Themselves, and not quite willing to admit
That the tables and worms have turned.
We have one last chance at summer,
And the question is:
Will we take it?


-jenn long

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Semi-conservative

Bring your face in
Mirror image
Let me see myself in you
Let me feel the clicks
Replicating
One strand old
One strand new
Transcribe your heart to me
So  full and loving
Write my name
On the palm of your hand
Then let me wash it
With my tears, and saliva, and hair,
Until I remember
Who I am

Waiting by the Pussywillow

I'll be waiting by the pussywillow,
Traipsing through the rain.
I'll be waiting where the tears and mud ball up
In the ways where the waters flow.
I'll be wearing creme gossamer— tea length,
With my long black veil in tow.
I'll wait by the pussywillow,
But I won't be alone.


-jenn long

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Nonsense

Even at this mortal hour,
In the dead of Autumn’s fall,
Amidst the serious browns and crimsons
Bloom the childish lilac dots.
They dance pastel, and flower at the wayside.
“Hi!” they say, and grin and wave
Against a dying Bon Voyage.
They blow a hello kiss to the backdrop
Of a universe that groans, “Goodbye.”
But more than that,
They play and gambol,
And skip rope to a mysterious nursery rhyme:
“There is no time,
No such season,
No such season,
No such thing
              -As time.”

-jenn long

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Apoptosis

When my time comes for apoptosis,
May I fall on the blade with nary a care,
Pull down the Sword of Damocles myself
Without one fear,
And boldly declare myself to be free,
And fit and willing
And at your service,
To live and die
And love and office
For at least a fiscal century.


-jenn long

Monday, October 7, 2013

Corpse Tamperin'

I can see ‘em all hovering’
About my corpse,
Tryin’ to make me presentable for the Lord.
Coiff the hair to a perfect spin!
Stick my lips with a pale pastel!
Everyone knows I prefer burned cinnamon red glossy!
And my hair’s never seen a day of perfection in its life!
Hell, the lord would never recognize me in this condition, anyway!
He always preferred me alive!
The Lord is a gentleman, however.
He does prefer blondes.
But once your dead,
It's all about the new reality for him.
And that's why I'm donating this cadaver to science.
Scientists prefer blondes too sometimes.


-jenn long

Great Wavelengths

A massive wave of love came crashing.
It washed away a load of sand,
Took me clean to my foundation,
Made me bright and new again,
And now the stars shine—
Dancing in the dented spaces
Like diamonds in a pool of sea
That glisten in the crevices
Of all the places that were me.

But I am something else again,
Recreated, energized
By the song the water sings me,
By the glory of the tides,
And yet, I’m soothed from former worry,
Shown my strength, and pacified
By the constant push and pull

Of the gracious wave at ocean’s side.

-jenn long

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Round the Bend

I haven't made the destination,
Yet, already ponder, “Round the bend?”
Maybe I'll just enjoy the journey
And those who truly call me friend,
And when I reach that fairest portal,
And survey horizon out beyond,
I'll decide then if I should tarry,
Or pack my grip and mosey on
To further sights unseen.


-jenn long

Confession

I covet my neighbor's blackberry bush.
I want to transplant a sprig of my own
To light the side of my backyard ditch
In the patch of fertile loam
Where it will flourish and bloom.

I long to see the pure white blossoms
Crave the tart-sweet berries black.
I pop them plump into my watering
Mouth, with their cane sugar sprinkled backs.
Oh, let me lick the platter clean!


-jenn long

Saturday, September 28, 2013

I'm Hungry

“I’m hungry,”
I cry to whomever might listen.
“I’m hungry,”
I cry to the broken world,
But the world has nothing,
Nothing to offer,
Nothing to feed my soul.

“I’m starved,”
I cry to whomever might hear it.
“I’m famished,”
I plea to Mother Earth,
And Mother rocks me
In her cradle of plenty,
And peacefully bids me nurse.


-jenn long

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Cuneiform

I could translate Cuneiform
If they hadn’t abbreviated.
If they’d used the classic endings
And fully conjugated their verbs,
And not contracted here and there
And acronymbed their way across
The crescent so bloody fertile
And all.


-jenn long

Song of Socrates

Oh what songs he might have sung
If he hadn’t waited for the day of his death
To “make and cultivate” the music
As his dream recurred to say.
I see his face in the patterns of
The faded ivy, lace, and ferns
Imprinted on my bedsheet here,
And a tear falls on his nose.
I cry for you, Great Socrates.
I beg you, sing,
Please sing for me.


-jenn long

Seasons

In the morning, it is Fall.
But afternoon brings Indian Summer,
Mating season for dragonflies,
Last hurrah for moths.
Now the rustle of the leaves,
The clucks and chirps
Of swallow and thrush,
Brings the Monarchs south again
On their way to Mexico.

My heart yearns to follow them—
To flutter off to some warm beach,
Dig my toes in the sand for a season
And laugh a lot with you,
Until some unknown force at work
In us says, “Yea, verily, verily,
Time has come to migrate north again.”

But since I have no wings to fly,
And my bones aren't hollow ones,
I'll stay today where I am put.
I'll stay tomorrow, too,
And sing my song
With it's clicks and chirps,
And pluck my tenor banjo strings,
Saying much more
Than, “Here I am,”
Until such time when I can fly away.


-jenn long

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Locked

Tell me baby, and I'll never forget.
The pressure waves that gurgle out
Over your larynx
And whisper your secrets
From the tip of your tongue
Rearrange the carbon
In my 5 carbon sugars,
And change the combination
Of my nitrogenous base.
No one else can open
The place where they're hidden,
Only deep retinal soul scan,
Voice recognition,
Your sweetest “I Love You’s,”

Sweeter still, your embrace.

-jenn long

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Come See Me

Come and see me
In the morning
Come and see me
In the dawn
Before I’ve draped
My garments bout me
Before I’ve put my makeup on

See my heart
The child within me
The dreams I hold
The smiles I hide
Then smile at me
With eyes wide open
So I can see
What you have inside


-jenn long

Day Old Hay

There's a scent of afterloss
In a field of day old hay,
Like blood left spilled
From yesterday
On a routed battlefield.
Hearts lie bloody.
Good as dead,
They whimper,
With nothing else to lose.

And yes I know, the war wrought plenty.
And yes I see, the cows will eat.
But look at those with spades a-ready
To bury the dying.
And what of those
Who break their own hearts
As they choose?


-jenn long

Saturday, September 21, 2013

To A Few Louses

“O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion:
What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us,
An' ev'n devotion!” ~Robert Burns from “To A Louse”


I heard some things I probably shouldn’t have
My neighbors making fun of my writing
Making fun of me
It really hurt my feelings
Sigh…..
They don’t want to understand the poems
They don’t even want to try
And all this time I thought they liked me
They were nice, at least, to my face
But when they thought I wasn’t around
Quite another case, I guess

Maybe there is power in seeing ourselves as others see us
Maybe it would free us from many a burden
(If it didn’t hurt so much)
And so I looked hard at myself in the mirror
But I don’t have any lice
Not today anyway
Just a few lousy neighbors


-jenn long

Nameless

Might I but say your name aloud?
I tremble to think I might take it in vain,
Or that the vulgar, commonplace might crowd
The purity of the thought wherein it dwells.
Or, if in giving speech to the dream
It might, as wishes, swell
And burst, if uttered first, before the candles blown.
And so, ineffable, I retain them
Unspoken,
Only to scrawl them on my heart—

The consonants alone.

-jenn long

Starved for the Cosmos

I stand in damp sand,
Cool to the touch
Of the soles of my bare feet.
I face east
And swallow big gulps of the sun.
I’m starved for you--
And the cosmos.

There's not a trace to the eye
Of the true sky,
Of the black energy
That stretches beyond,
And the magnetic resonance of the stardust
That stares holes right through us.

But the force of it pulls me
Hard this morning,
Draws the desires of my heart
Toward you,
Claws the animal mesmerism
Out to the forefront,
And woos me to some former place
To feed and spawn.

-jenn long

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Fecund Fall

Cupid is older and wiser now.
He comes disguised in leaves of gold,
Strolls through autumn like a nonchalant thief,
And shoplifts what hearts he may.

His arrows hide the true aims of Fall—
Earth’s great time to sew its seed.
Dry kernels fall in the hurry of harvest,
Unnoticed and unkempt,
Until the breedy earth says, “No?!”
“No more, and then the hush begins to fall.”

Nature may abhor a vacuum,
But Nature surely loves her Winter—
Who quiets her heat and gives her deep meaning rest.
And Eros smiles. His work is done.
He let Fall drop us
Smooth in the lap
Of the greatest lover of all.


-jenn long

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Cup Pickin' Time

When I let him pick out his own cup,
He climbs up onto the counter
And monkey paws through the cupboards
Til he finds the one he wants.
He ain’t lookin’ for no sippy cup.
He chooses the biggest one in the house—
A giant wide-mouth mason jar,
Bigger, almost, than his head.
He has to hold it with both hands
And drag it up to his little lips,
And get him a big ole, big man drink,
The size o’ Texas, y’all.
Yes, he may be a little guy, now,
But inside the legends of his own mind,
He is huge!
He’s gonna pick out his own cup
From now on.

-jenn long

"I Have a Feelin' It's Gonna Burn"


“I have a feeling it’s gonna burn,”

He said of his old house there at the end of the drive.

“Lots of things burn out here, you know?”

He lapsed to a faraway smile.

He never heard another word I said.

The promise of phoenix rising meant nothing to him.

He had a bootstrap theology

And pulled himself up.

He didn’t bother praying for disaster

When he had the power to create his own.


-jenn long

Lavender Mine

I slave away in the lavender mines,
Tend to the peppermints,
Cultivate clover.
Catnip and chamomile sprout about
As I sweat over fragrant buds.

Finally a slight breeze
Over the basil
Brushes the anise flowers
Up through the hyssop.
I wipe my brow
And stand in the dewy mud.

And all is well,
My Love, this morning.
All is well.
I’ve taken root.
All is well
In the world with me

And Thee.

-jenn long

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Last Blooms of Summer

A hurried burst of 
Grounded flora
Rushes out penultimate blooms.
And the faintest 
Aroma bergamot
Covers the stench of a million tombs
Of love gone by
And hasty statements
And times forgotten by the masses,
Of vulgar unabated grief
Of my proletariat working asses and oxen.
And finally opened,
Finally fertile,
Finally alive and urgent to blow,
I savor their scent,
The stirring last kiss,
Til I breathe the winter’s barren snow.


-jenn long

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Corn Whisperer

Corn hardly grows during day.
It needs the rustling sounds of love
At night to noctosynthesize
Its photo-sensitivities.

Come camp with me in the bittergreens—
The dandelions,
The clovers,
Until the sweet alfalfa blossoms
Shoot the merry moon.
And may even the joyous corn silk whispers
Kiss your spirit, your lips, your whiskers,
And rock your cradle of love unto your soul.


-jenn long

Friday, September 13, 2013

Let There Be Love

Love brings to me the next dimension.
There was no shape,
No color, no depth.
There was no light
Until there was you,
Only chaos upon the face of my deep.
There was no sound,
No word, no song.
There was no beauty,
No primordial goo,
No star in the heavens,
No shine in my eye.
There was nothing
Til there was you.


-jenn long

Love Buzz


Oh, you make me buzz at a higher frequency!
You send me high!
You send me free!
Bouncing off the waves
With a lovestruck buoyancy
Of hi-energy streaming
And wonderlust!

My pressure waves crash and fall upon you,
And droplets of singing angel choirs
Mist the distance
Of once barren sand,
Now littered with glisten
And diamond dust.

For I am rich
When I'm with you,
Unmistakably highly queued.
Skipping thru the universes,
Tickled pink,
From loving you.

 

-jenn long

South Field


I close my eyes and
Stand in the shadowlands.
Tall wisps of lovegrass grow
Up to my waist.
Southwind blows
My big straw hat.
Clouds go tumbling close.

I pull a shoot from a sagey clump
And walk with the sweet end in my mouth,
My long skirt winnows in the wind.
I taste the silty green.

Tomorrow the tractors will come and rumble.
The swather will rattle and roll and cut
All of it down to a raze and an end to the row.

But today it is my field of dreams
Where great birds swoop
One for the other,
And fieldmice scamper and nibble and mate,
And rabbits chew the ribosomes
Of the lovegrass where it tufts.

Yes all of this exists
In the shadow of my eyelid,
In the hazel of my mirrored marble eye.

Come and go back there with me,
Today, or better, yesterday.
Give me your hand and shut your eyes with me.

 

-jenn long

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Alive

I have seen the Lord within you--
A terrible wonder,
An awesome fright,
An expanding mystery,
Wrapped in swaddles
Of infinite symmetry
And dazzling light,
And weapons and power,
And peace, and holdings,
Vaster than multiverses,
Greater than all!
And stirred to behold you
In your kingdom,
In love and honor,
I fall.
I fall.
-jenn long

Monday, September 9, 2013

Gone


 I’ve grieved for you today

As one would for a stillborn babe,

As one would cry for an amputation,

Or an abortion forced upon.

I’ve plucked out my own right eye for you,

So that I would never sin,

And cut off my own horn of power

To enter heaven maimed,

So that no vain imagination

Could ever come between

Your own deception

And the fact that I don’t exist.

 

-jenn long

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Beamed

I creep down through a chiseled shaft
Perfectly 4" by 8" by 8"by 4."
I drop into your King's chamber,
Overwhelmed at the hands
Of extreme intelligence.

There, the faint residue
Of zinc-hydrochloride
Hydrogenates my core.
The vibrations beam me,
At microwave frequency,
Back out
And through the Ethosphere toward Orion.
And now, as I escape Earth's orbit,
I fully understand.

-jenn long

Muffet's Mountain Bike


The spider's web is on the move,
And quite without his scant permission.
He steps down upon his stoop
To see his world go by.
He made the mistake of making his home
In the handlebar of my mountain bike.
His terra firma turned out to be not too firm.

So now he desperately looks for hope.
He finds some at my fingertips,
Then creeps up further
The soft skin on the back of my hand.
I pick him up and give him a blow,
And he para-sails with legs un-akimbo.
He lands in the autumn grass in the ditch
At the edge of a deep, sweet wood.

And this is his forever after,
A happy one? I like to think?
For this is the forest where the piggy lives
With the ring in the end of his nose.
This— the eternal honeymoon site
Of the owl and the pussycat
And their never rustable, runsable spoon.

And yet tomorrow, when the page is turned,
I will be sure to check my handlebars
Very thoroughly!
(And you can bet your sweet patootie on that.)


 

-jenn long

Gingerbread Girl


You can't graph her—
Even 3d,
The woman in my dreams.
She struts and zips and telestutters,
Then vanishes into thin air,
Only to reappear from someplace
That physics formulae finds not feasible.


She has gingerbread for breakfast
And never gains a gram of weight.
She smiles a dazzling set of teeth
At all those who tell her she "can't."
"Can't never could," her backend says
As she shakes it on her way
To the next dimension of her
Impossible dream.

Come to me great queen of the sky!
Shine your confidence my way!
Tell me your slightly off-color jokes
Until my belly cramps from laughter
And my cheek muscles tone like yours.
In the beauty and wisdom and grace of it all,
I'm assured that the self-righteousness of this world's eye
Is but filthy rags of tattered dogma
And chains to hold us to the ground.

But the giggles of her inner children,
The twelve elders of my amygdala,
And even ninety-nine and forty-four one hundredths
Percent Pure Love
Pop around me like champagne bubbles,
And Victory is here!

 

-jenn long

Friday, September 6, 2013

Affirmation

I hope you don’t think
I could ever forget
Even one of the sweet words
That drop from your heart.
Like honey, wherein no harmful thing can grow,
Like amber, that surrounds and protects me,
They keep me from the harsh rays of reality.
They heal me from the callous echoes
Of things that should never have been said,
And nourish my soul by the utterance
Of all the things that should have been.
 
-jenn long

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

The Very Idea

Just the very idea of you
Elevates my mind,
Takes me to a higher plane
Where thought alone is enough.
But the Spirit of your Personality
And the genie of your soul
Grant the wishes of my life
And open heaven’s vault.
 
And so I lack for nothing,
Except more time with you—
Hours to sunbathe on eternity’s shores,
Minutes of precious splash,
Miles of cubic seconds
To walk hand in hand and bask
In the healing glory
Of your majestic presence.
 
-jenn long

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Sun Kissed

The sun's lips at sunset
Rest deep in the caverns.
Warm and full,
They set waters ablaze
And burn through the night
In sweetness and glory
Til he rises at daybreak
With a strong love and light.

And his kiss has moved me
To a new place in orbit.
And his sweet kiss
Has changed me and purified.
Age old dross evaporated.
He left nothing poor to hide me.
I shine like sheer gold.

-jenn long

Thursday, August 29, 2013

I Worship You, My Human Prince


I worship you, My human Prince,
For you are like a god to me.
I place a laurel wreath upon your brow.
You came to me as a sterling swan--
Exquisitely pure and beautiful,
Yet I didn't know
The extent of your divinity.

I might have feared.
I might have run.
But your love drew me,
Wooed me, won me,
And you are,
Above all else,
A king in this heart of mine.

-jenn long

Your Problem


I don’t have a problem with you,

But you have a problem with me.

I’ve failed to meet your every expectation.

But, I can’t fail at being myself,

So maybe it is 100% you

Who’ve failed to see me as I am

And accept me on that basis.

-jenn long

Equanimity

The little yellow flowers I like
Smell like honey in the night
And ope to the morning
Fresh and filled with dew.
And as the day grows harsh and hot,
Equanimity defines their lot.
Fully bloomed and glorious,
They wait the seed.
They ride the wind
With sunny smiles
And grow for miles and miles and miles.
Pretty good--
For a weed.

De Ja Love

Baby I've lived like this before,
But it was only in a dream
Where reality touched
An eternal tangent with Love.
But your goodness makes me know
That the fabric of time
And the backdrop of relativity
Can never win the battle against
The pull of the indivisible ones
And subatomic certainties
That march to the great poet's song.

And I can hear the deep B flat
Crooning from a distant star
And the go lucky whistle
Of the orbs that pass me by.
They sing a song of DNA
And the chorus says
My cells are coded
To love you the way I do.
How sweet it is!
How sweet it will always be!

-jenn long

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Heart to Heart


He anointed my heart
With olive oil, again,
Touched each wound
With his fair hand, and
Poured me full of affectionate peace,
Kissed each ugly fear
With kind acceptance,
And cradled me in his love.


And just as tenderly
As the first
Time that he tended me,
Was the second,
And the third,
And this has surely mended me
Again...and again...and again.


 

-jenn long

Worthy Pursuit of Booty

You go pack your muzzle loader,
And we’ll go “wabbit hunting.”
I’ll pack us a picnic lunch
And wrap a furry bunting up,
So that, when we’re ready,
We can sprawl and fawn,
And feed each other crustless scones
And scatter thereupon
Our passing, invisible baubles,
And our trophies, and our crowns,
And forget them all,
And disseminate
Our sophisticated gowns.
And there, uncomplicated, we
Can love each other— free
From all the trappings
Of culture’s snares,
And together
Simply beeeeeeeeeeeeeee.
 
(Now that, My Friend, is a worthy pursuit of booty.)
 

-jenn long