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

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 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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