Saturday, May 28, 2016

Blinking isn't for the eye,
To wet it down as some suppose,
But it is to frame the reference
For the mind, so that we are not amazed.
We don't notice changes rapidly succeeding us.
We don't notice passages of time,
Until the pages yellow enough,
Or catastrophe comes.

Soft orchestral tones play behind the scenes,
Tuned down to a hum
Droned along by D.
It lulls me to a yawn.
I rub my eyes.
I swim into the night
And play updream.

And if I wake to some bright morning's pleasure,
Or some distressing timer's urgent plea,
To show up and punch my time card
In a factory that makes mud,
Or in the nursery where the stars are born,
I will go where life doth bid me,
For life hath never,
Never let me down.
I will go where life doth bid me,
For my life hath never let me down.

-jenn
I'm wistful
Like a cat tail,
Wanting you
By the lake
Of 4000 desires.
And in the midst
Of ten thousand other cat tails,
I am suddenly aware
Of my loneliness.

I sway,
Am blown by a soft breeze
That whispers,
"Don't ever tell anyone
Of your deep love,
And don't blink."
But I do.
I blink morse code
Of my deep love
For you,
And the bullfrog
Barrrroooop
Relays the story
Out of the freshwater
And up the green mountain.

-jenn

Friday, May 27, 2016

I notice the natural world as it is,
The smallest details, the grandest schemes,
And it is right that I should walk through it without seeing myself,
For I'm not sure if I'm a part of it.

And I don't need to know the world is turning.
I don't need to know earth is round.
The one raindrop that fell on my ring finger
Assures me that I'm a queen.

My crown is the sunlight of the morning,
My jewels, dew drops on the leaves.
Your love has made me, moved me.
I, eternal woman, dance in concert
To worlds unseen.

To Nature, then I curtsy.
To science and literature, I kindly nod and bow,
But my hand, I give to you.
I'm yours now.

-jenn


Friday, May 20, 2016

From dawn to dusk today I've just picked cotton
The bowls split wide
And purest white I see
Tonight I'll lay my pallet on a bail of it
And pick the stars out of a milky sky

Ch- I dream of a night in love with you dear
Your love like a row of holy white
Pick you up and wrap you in my gunny sack
Pick you pick you pick you up
All night


Big dipper scoops all through the night time
Pouring cream from the top of the Milky Way
Come take your turn at the handle
So I can find my love and runaway

Churn these dreams of mine all into butter
So I can spread my biscuits full of glee
So I can dip some stars up from the nighttime
And wrap them up in burlap just for me

-jenn

Thursday, May 19, 2016

I'm me.
Who are you?
Right now I see
You
At three,
Enjoying your mud pies.

I'm me.
Who are you?
Twenty-two and taking on the world.

I'm me.
Who are you?
Enlightened now, I see.
You're you.
Who am I?

-jenn

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

If one dresses for the day,
The ephemeral eyes will see
And give a quick nod of their approval
As they continue on their way.

But if one dresses for The Ever,
Then rays of love will cloak the galaxy.
Everlasting kindness stops them in their tracks,
From here to eternity.

-jenn

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

She showed up on my doorstep
Looking all of five,
With tears stains streaking down her cheeks.
She wasn't mad at me,
Although I've given her bad advice.
But her heart was broken,
And mine was too.
We stood face-to-face
And knew it was a matter of time,
And time alone would tell.

But we knew then that the only things worth knowing
Are things that nothing but time can tell.
For some things are better left unspoken,
And some things, as Nietzsche said,
Die as soon as they are named,
Or, at least, some shadow of the thing
Winds up dead like a little present
A cat might bring
And drop
There at your doorstep.

-jenn

I read Chinese in the darkened room.
One candle glows.
I close my eyes and see the deep nothing.
I hear a rustle in the wind.
Someone has blown the candle out again.

I wander through the open door
Barefoot to the wet sand on the shore.
Dim stars light the foggy night,
And waves crash o'er
And o'er,
As I cut Chinese glyphs
Of my love for you
Into the pale sand beneath a pale moon.
Deep tracks like ink
Fill with seawater
Blue-noir.
Read them and weep,
And weep for me, too.

-jenn

Saturday, May 7, 2016

You have been a sweetheart's kiss,
A buddy's even sway,
The dedication of a son,
And yet, upon this day I see
Love's face as of no other,
A daughter's face that
Looks up to love
And idolize her father.
And now I understand that in
Every life I've lived,
You've been with me
And seen me through
And loved me even when
I didn't love myself.

When others failed,
And when I failed,
And when empires fell,
The cells of your body
Chasing mine through time,
The laughter of your spirit,
Somehow overcame it all.
And the shine from your heart,
That always baffled me,
Was leading me
To truth
All along.

-jenn