And when he got to the part about Robespierre,

I had just taken a drink of water,

And I snorted very loud,

And the water shot out of my nose.

Several people around me gasped,

Especially those who had come to hate me at the poetry readings,

And especially because we had such an esteemed person reading his work that day.

But I took a napkin from the table and wiped my face,

And just as I was about to apologize,

The man held up his hand for me to come 

To where he was standing at the podium,

And said, “You in the back there, come up here.”

And then he motioned for some of his entourage 

To make room for me at the table where They sat closest to the lecturn from where he spoke.

And I didn’t know if I should go or not,

But I have a way of doing what I am bidden,

And I’ve never hidden from a fight or conflict of any kind,

But face it down 

And swallow it,

And make it a part of flesh and blood and mind.

So I collected my bag and my book and my half empty bottle of water,

And rose from my table there in the back where I sat alone,

And walked up to the front and took the chair that was offered to me.

Then I steel myself for any possible onslaught.

But the man said, “I would like to thank this woman here because she got my joke, 

And she got it to such an extent that she almost choked to death,”

And then he smiled,

And then he threw his head back and laughed,

And then he looked at me again with a big grin and said, Thank you, Madame.”

And I could tell you all the mysteries that came between,

And maybe I will someday,

But suffice it to say,

The thing I like about him is:

You can’t believe a word he says,

And therefore, he’s easy to listen to,

And therefore, he’s easy to ignore,

And any more than that would be insincere on my part to declare,

But my heart has had enough of the airs and gaits of false hopes and faiths,

The prehensiled tales of pretenses that

We suspend our beliefs from,

The fraying layers of insincerity.

Where can I be, in spite of myself?

Where can i go to hide from myself 

And you,

But into the lies that people tell about themselves and 

About me

And about the world that we all just merely perceive 

When the truth is funny 

And the “revolution” of most, such a joke.

-jennifer 

 As the crow flies

From your heart to mine,

My love for you will never wane.

It is only the Truth that waxes

In ourselves and others.

It is only the Truth that shines through us,

And other times we cloud it with our mind.

But my love for you will stand the test of time,

The test of space.

My Love for you will reach beyond

The shores of eternity

To stand still on that motionless place

Where reality meets impermanence.

There will I be.

There you will find me,

Loving you,

Forever.

-jennifer 

 This perfect moment called now

Is brought to you by the universe,

Like a frozen pause in life,

When your hot tea has cooled just enough 

That you can sip it quietly from your thermos.

Now you’ve pulled into a parking lot,

Just in time to see a small whirlwind 

Eddy in the corner,

With dried broom weed it has brought from the countryside 

To mingle gently with the city’s trash.

A bird flies.

A bell rings.

Take another sip of tea 

And breathe.

You have your dignity.

And that, alone,

Is enough to move mountains.

-jenn

 The Sun makes its great arc across the sky.

It’s satisfied with a background position,

And no one hardly bothers to offer thanksgiving to the Sun,

Too busy making something out of the clouds.

“That one looks like an elephant!”

“That one looks like a sycophant,

Conniving it’s way to seek us out like helpless sheep,

To see which one of us he could separate,

And steal our joy,

Kill us, or, even worse, otherwise destroy us as we yet live on.”

And we’ve chosen now to be terrified 

By a story of our own making.

And meanwhile

……The Sun.

-jenn

 The sky is full of stars in the morning.

They are turning.

They are swirling.

The light that spins from off of them

Is a dancing beam,

A team of wild horses

Pulling me apart,

Putting me back together again

To heal my heart,

My hands, my feet,

My fingers, face, my eyes.

A vision so sweet

Just outside my window

Beckons me to rise,

And come and tiptoe through the tulips of the sky.

I choose to start my day off right

So I can spin my light too,

And realize the causal way

That consciousness is not only aware,

But magically making things happen 

Here,

And out there in the molecules of the universe.

-jenn

 This morning when I walked my dog,

When we first started off,

I heard a whimper,

And I wondered if my dog

Was hurting,

But she really seemed to want to go .

Her tail was wagging,

And she was happily sniffing .

What’s that whining?

So I thought the noise might be a squeak

From the swivel on her leash,

But as we got out into the field,

Where I could release my hound,

And saw her run way up in front of me,

And it was then I realized ,

The squeaky wheel was me,

My polyester sleeve 

Rubbing against the bodice of

My polyester coat.

-jenn

 I long to wake the sleeping mother deep inside of me,

And so I knock and knock and knock 

On the door of puberty.

Awake to me.

My time comes slowly. 

I see the buds of breasts are growing 

On the other girls at school.

I see the sexuality becoming real,

And yet for me my tenuous limbs

Are long and thin,

With no hint of curves appearing.

But I’m knocking, knocking, knocking, 

On the door of puberty.

Awake to me, Divine Mother.

Mother Mary, come to me.

Great Ganga, churn the Milky Way.

Open my eyes, because I see 

Greater Things still dormant in me,

A spiritual ability to be expecting,

To unfold the springing greenness

Of transcendental maidenhood

And give life to the great creative

Waiting patiently for me to be ready.

Awake Divine Mother and set me free to sail

Across the teeming, pregnant sky,

With the darting dragonfly,

And to swim with the silver fishes up the stream,

To change direction on a dream,

So that I may stay with the gracious moment where

The bears are and the mighty fir,

Where you are

When you are fully aware of me,

When the vibrations alight the Christmas tree

And a child is born,

A miracle.

Let me be a part of all this beauty,

All this peace, receptivity, and divine growth.

-jenn