Peanut Time?

It feels like something you have to do,

And you really, really don’t want to,

But your feet are taking you

To a place you don’t want to go.

Your fingers reach for the task at hand.

This time of year I always get a hearty case of worry and doubt,

A little taste of what being a Virgo is all about.

If something’s not perfect,

Is it worth doing at all?

It’s fall,

And peanut harvest is just around the bend.

But you have to wait for the first frost,

And when will that be?

When will summer really end?

No one knows,

And no one can even hazard a guess.

Isn’t it best to wait

In abject patience?

But who can do it?

If anyone knew a way to predict 

Exactly that or exactly this,

He or she would save the world from lots of grief.

Or if someone could control the weather…

As it is,

We don’t know whether the sun will come up or not tomorrow,

But in some ways, that is the beauty of existence.

We don’t know anything,

But don’t they say, “Ignorance is bliss.”

And these very trials,

And the faith they can build,

May convince us of our ignorance 

And yet strengthen us,

If we’ll let them.

-jenn 

 Something In Common 

I try to tell my cat and dog

That they should try and get along.

I suddenly realize, 

They have something in common.

I want to sit them down 

And have a talk with them.

So I open the door to let the dog in from the back yard.

She runs in like a big galoot.

The cat instantly arches her back 

And floofs her fur and hisses.

The dog never stops,

But continues to run for cover, now,

 Heading for my bedroom in the back of the house.

And so I shout as she goes by,

The beginning of my pre-planned speech:

“You guys know you have something in common, right?

You’re both female.”

-jenn 

 The Pineapple Gets In My Eyes 

I’ve been up all night

Exploding cans of pineapple juice,

Then cleaning all the pineapple juice up as best I could.

Now I’ve sprinkled salt on the kitchen floor,

And I’m sliding around in my canvas  shoes.

I take the rug outside to shake it

And see the stars.

Everything…. 

Truly…..

Is beautiful…..

Last night I cried all my makeup off

Because of people like you.

Tonight I cry because I have pineapple in my eye.

It’s a better reason, 

And it helps me see your broken heart.

Humanity has broken its own wholeness, 

It’s own health….

It’s own inner wellness…

So many times.

But these stars are the fragments across the sky that shine in the darkness. 

They sing the expanding universe. 

They sing the glorious dark matter

That will never allow anything to be created or destroyed.

They sing the Eternal Truths: 

That no matter how broken we declare the world to be,

All things are eternally connected as One,

And something so incomparably complete exists always and ever,

Before any moves are made.

And I have learned much more

From staying up all night

Exploding cans of pineapple accidentally,

Than from all the directed studies I ever endured at The University of Texas Textbook.

-jenn

 The universe is closer than it appears

At night the twinkling stars emerge into our consciousness 

It’s not from galaxies far away

But from a dark pupil very near

So close that if you extend your hand

You’ll feel the watery flesh give in

Give way to you

But you don’t have to poke the cosmos in the eye

Just sit at night

Quietly 

And watch the stars go whirling by

So slowly

They want to give you every chance 

To come and dance with them

Please 

I beg you

Come out tonight

And see

Feel the life reverberate

In every tree and plant and creature 

In the rocks and each and every feature of the earth

Every individual thing

Sings the great assurances

Of each and every holy breath you breathe

-jenn 

 Only when I see the fireflies

Blinking on and off in the twilight,

Do I see the glitches in the silkscreen of what we call as reality,

A peek behind the mirage of the illusion that 

We all live individual separate lives.

How can we take the existence so for granted?

How can we so badly underestimate 

The subtle energies of the stars

Which mingle with the powers of the earth 

To bring forth the great diverse expanse

Of life on this planet?

When I see the fireflies quietly blinking on and off,

Suddenly I see you as the complete system you are:

The minerals that have gathered magnetically around you,

The chemistry of complicated reactions,

The electrical charges at work while you are simply breathing,

The fire that burns within your belly

That began long before your conception,

Before your parents ever met.

You are a delicate ecosystem

Brought forth by the orchestra of the universe

And the subsequent light show ever shining forth.

You are my sister, my brother,

Along with all the herds of animals,

The hordes of insects and microbes,

The groves of trees and plant life abundant,

The race called humanity dwelling here together.

We are the fruit of this earth,

Sprouted out  like miracles

From the seeds of life,

The rain of worship,

The light from the sun

And every beautiful star that shines in the galaxy and beyond,

All blending to form this unique opportunity 

For us to live together now

And relish the adventure that this experience offers us.

But it is only when I see the fireflies,

Like gracious dancing ballerinas 

That twirl their glow sticks in the twilight,

That I get a relieving glimpse

Of the truth of life from beyond the veil.

-jenn

 Model Student 

One has hair that stands on end,

Creating a beautiful, vibrant wind blown appearance

That depends on electricity

Of love and light from one’s surroundings 

To stir the chemistry of her heart and soul.

Another such model of fancy hair

Scoffs at the randomness of such luck:

“I just use corn starch to powder my coiffed locks,”

She admits in a candid, conversational way.

What a lark!

That a spark from the mind

Can create either kind of beauty.

And yet…. Is it everyone’s duty

To be beautiful in some way?

And can the kindness 

And the universal respect for Life

Manifest itself in ways that are too subtle

To be seen,

But must be felt

In the pure, entire acceptance 

Of oneself, and of all things?

-jenn