Van Gone

The bells ring,

And instantly, I’m back in Arles.

The wind is here,

And no one quarrels 

About the things that should have been.

But there is grief.

There is sadness here,

Because the madness was so great,

To such degree,

And yet your greatness,

So yet to be seen.

But this is how it’s affected me:

That everyone I meet in Arles,

I treat as if I already see

The genius spark

That they must carry deeply unseen 

Within their hearts.

And when I speak, I can only say,

“So lovely you are to me....”

-jenn

 Unless I Want To

Why has the world been telling me that my yard is full of weeds,

When it seems to be full of edible herbs?

Why did my school urge me so strong as they did

To eat the food pyramid from the bottom up?

It made me weak and tubby!

Then they told me I was old and needed to replace both my knees,

But my knees have been fixed by free exercises!

The entire surface of our world

Runs on greed and false advertising.

I’m calling my power back.

I get to decide

What is right for me.

And I’m not going to take it lying down 

Unless I want to.

-jenn

 Valley Spirit 

How do I think I could help someone 

When I am in such dire need?

Like the valley helps the mountain, 

I lay low.

If my advice to you

Seems slow to come,

It is because I’m deaf and dumb

And cannot speak from here,

Deep in the spirit of the valley,

Helping the mountain climb its heights.

Sometimes it takes all my might

To lay so low.

-jenn 

 

 Consensitive

When I’m lonely, I play a game.

I add a zero to my name

And clock a notch on nothingness 

And guess at what’s back there

Behind the darkness.

And then I see beyond the veil,

That there’s mostly nothing there,

So I add a zero to my hair,

And up the ante by being still 

And going nil.

And in the quiet of the night,

I add a zero to my diet

And quit the pace,

And add another to my face,

And zeros play all over the place,

My hands, my feet,

The empty street outside my open door.

I add zeros until there are no more,

Or maybe there are some that I can’t see

But the infinite joy I feel

Behind my eyes so closed and free from light,

Exponentially keeps me safe

And out of sight from many a blunder.

But I do wonder,

What all this space would ever do

If anyone could ever add the number two

To all those zeros.

But from somewhere deep

Within the mystery,

A voice says, “I will show you everything you want to know ,

And anytime you want to bend and flow 

And grow with the dark infinity,

Just add a zero.”

-jenn

 Autumn Chew

There’s something about the morning air in autumn

That you can slice

Like a piece of pie

And eat it without a care in the world.

It’s rich with the smells 

That night has made.

The dew on the leaves that have fallen,

A skunk has mildly trotted through.

Someone’s brewing coffee.

A faint hint of cigarette, 

Someone’s walking with sweet almond lotion

Rubbed

All over themselves,

And it’s warming, as they do,

On their morning walk.

And now the sky is turning autumn blue,

And morning has fully broken,

And it gives way to something new,

But something that can’t be sliced like pie,

Something that must be consumed 

Some other way.

We consider what that may be

While we silently chew

Our toast and jelly,

And call it Day.

-jenn

 Wednesday’s Child

Wednesday starts earlier than Tuesday.

Everyone’s in a hurry to get

To the hustle,the bustle, the rage.

Time is relative, no?

And anyone who says it isn’t,

Has never stood 

At the corner of Frank and Blank Street 

On Wednesday morning at 7:13.

Some people call Wednesday hump day,

And I don’t know why.

Maybe they hump it and hack it through,

But I don’t want to go to Wednesday.

Tell me, again, Mother, why do I have to?

“Because it’s a schoolday,

And everyone knows 

That everyone has to go

To screwel on a screwelday,

Especially if it falls on a Wednesday”

Maybe this is why they say,

“Wednesday’s child is full of woe.”

They do still say that somewhere, don’t they?

But surely they won’t teach you that in school anymore,

It’s too honest.

It’s too true, and factual.

-jenn

 I’m walking the tightrope,

Swinging the trapeze,

And it’s all so beautiful!

Such a breeze to be so high in the air! 

But then I have a worry,

Then I have a doubt.

Could someone put up the safety net?

I’m walking the tightrope!

Swinging the trapeze!

And it’s all so beautiful!

But then I doubt the safety net.

Could someone go and check it please?

-jenn