part circus, part conservatory
My 11th poetry postcard came yesterday, and what a delight! I adore Opus and Berkeley Breathed. And this poem rocks!
* * *
Sending my last official postcard out today, borrowing a line from this poem and snippets of overheard bus-commute conversation. Strange rides!
In Back of Bottles on a Shelf
The Madonna of ancient spices sanctifies dust and crystallizes essential oils: Jeweled almond and rum crackle like amber in glass vials Grandmother used in her favorite recipes — now wedged in the crack of a dry drawer — for church-lady dinners, the mourners. Her initials — same as [...]
I believe it is in Chris Chester’s amazing book, “Providence of a Sparrow,” in which he mentions James Lipton’s book An Exaltation of Larks. Chester refers to the book as a listing of “the names of pluralities” of things- a parliament of owls, a smack of jellyfish, a pride of lions, a host of angels, [...]
Reflection 1.
When I was young I took care –
Sharpened my pencils, used
A lip liner. Now I smudge
At the edges and gloss my
Lips blind, run the tube out
While I stare through glass panes.
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Two more official cards, and one unofficial, and my August poetry postcard series is finito!
“Crying is a highly evolved behavior,” explains Dr. Hasson. “Tears give clues and reliable information about submission, needs and social attachments between one another. My research is trying to answer what the evolutionary reasons are for having emotional tears.
“My analysis suggests that by blurring vision, tears lower defences [sic] and reliably function as signals of [...]
Long Vowels of August
No word in days, the slow
Month seeps through turns
at play and seriousness.
No regard for strangers
sitting tight on this bus relaxed.
Jaws form no clicking
Consonant, only the yawning
Moans of early morn.
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.
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The poem is a bit of play. To date I’ve sent out 28 original poetry postcards, plus one bonus one, [...]
Next to the 24-Hour Church of Elvis
Four multicultural Barbies work out
Cultural issues of fat and fashion
And whether peanut butter and banana
Sandwiches are kill or be killed manna.
They don’t know it, none of us do,
But they are installations in the first
ever 24-hour coin-operated art gallery.
Susan B. Anthony coins will be returned.
* * *
The 24-Hour-Church-of-Elvis lives on [...]
Got my student evaluations back from the course I taught this summer. The good news feels extra sweet today, considering I am feeling like I am coming apart at the seams. Thought I would brag a bit. :-)
**
What do you like best about this course?:
The Professor was interesting and was able to [...]
Exhume
2.
Streambeds and seams parted today
As dirt knocked hollow on pine
Two shovels and sifted soil
Clay — no humous, no rocks, no roots –
Only the sterile crumble of rough umbra
Shiny-dull — eyes, cheeks, nose — red
We know what the road builders know
Water settles dust as it takes to the sky
* * *
“Exume 1.” is here. Still not [...]
I like 2/3. I like 0.66667. Can’t exactly tell you why, but it has to do with lazy-gal proportion and symmetry. 3/5 is a slightly nicer effect, but it is a little easier for me to see in thirds than fifths.
I’ve got a 10 more poetry postcards to write for August, plus three or four [...]
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