“Come to me, come to me,

Come to me,

You, my missing, vagrant fleas!

Come back to me,” the lonely cat

Sang helplessly into the night.

But in the light of consciousness,

In the heart of a heavenly flight of a dream,

In the deep sleep that only a cat,

Or a yogi can know,

The negation of the objective world

Occurs, and the cat purrs.

So soundly napping,

She realizes,

Those fleas have always been a part of her

All along,

And they always will be,

If we could only fathom that!

Ahhhhhhh! if we could only fathom a cat

Who misses her fleas!

-jenn

 I Still Want To

I’m a tax deduction.

People been writing me off for years.

But I’m still here.

People been telling me

Where I don’t want to be,

And what I don’t want to do.

But I’m telling you,

I’m still here,

And I still want to.

The only true words I ever heard at school 

Were from

Ms. Clara Nell McDermott Westerman Spencer,

My 7th grade Texas history teacher

When someone groaned

And then complained, 

“Do we have to, Mrs. Spencer?”

The southern belle from Callahan County

Turned and raised one eyebrow and said,

“The only two things you HAVE to do

Are die, and pay taxes!”

But I’m telling you,

I’m still here,

And I still want to!

-jenn

 I wish I could communicate

All the things I’d like to say to you

When I read your lovely wit

You’ve writ to me upon this page.

But that might take all day

And night.

It might take tomorrow, too.

But does a picture speak a thousand words?

Maybe you heard me

Right after I thought of you

Telling me this?

Yes, maybe you heard me smile?

-jenn

 I’m listening to jazz,

Getting some gas.

I go in to pay.

A big man with other worldly eyes 

Asks me if I can spare some change.

“We’ll see,” I say,

“If I have anything left.”

The girl behind the counter hands me 

Back a dollar 

And three pennies.

I don’t even bother

To pocket the dollar.

I know I’m just going 

To give it to him.

And back outside,

He’s straddling his bike,

Standing tall on the sidewalk

On this gloomy October 

Rainy day,

Staring at the sky,

With his lovely, other worldly eyes.

And I hand him the dollar.

And then, I keep on 

Walking toward my car.

“Thank you, Pretty Lady,”

I hear him say as I go.

I really want to pick him up

And take him home with me,

But, unfortunately, you see,

Thats how people wind up murdered,

Here, in Canton, 

Canton, Ohio.

-jenn

 What The....

Her face is fresh as beach sand,

Her eyes as blue as deep,

Her hair like billowing seaweed swoons

All the way down to her feet,

But is she a her?

Some say they’ve seen her down by the Loch.

Others say “Kelpie,” under their breath

While the old men talk about seeing her.

One of the villagers gave me a strange look

As I walked by.

Did he say he recognized 

My sand-fresh face,

My sea weed hair,

The teasing, tempting smile

That lies there just beneath 

My deep blue stare?

But am I the “me”he speaks about,

That he has seen

Down by the water’s gleaming edge?

A mystery to be unwound, or

Answers better left unfound,

In a world that teems 

With infinite possibilities?

-jenn

 Total Eclipse 

And now we have a clean clear sun.

We can appreciate it.

It was gone.

You did not notice?

It his behind the moon two hours,

And while it did,

It considered its powers,

And all that it might be when it grows up.

One day it’s shining will be done.

It pondered that while it was hidden,

But for now, we have a clean clear sun.

We can appreciate it.

It was gone.

You did not notice?

-jenn

 Yes 

I pedal through day and I pedal through night

And night is cool 

Like glass on ice

And day is warm

Like the sun on your smile

And The Doors are playing 

The riders are storming

Jim Morrison’s singing

Bells are ringing 

The music is fading

Now heavy metal chimes

Collide with me

My teeth are grinding 

I’m dreaming aren’t I

Or is that just you

Telling me Good Morning 

-jenn