tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30539086267019680932024-03-05T06:40:41.717-05:00Follow the Green PenAnother shout into the electronic wilderness.steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.comBlogger285125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-4616865647244457682019-09-27T10:06:00.004-04:002019-09-27T10:06:35.913-04:00It's haiku time again in creative writing class<span id="docs-internal-guid-b72b6db4-7fff-f8c6-9005-2445aaaf3cf6"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Coffee is bitter</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">fuel that brings a sweetness,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lifting my spirits.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Empty hanging file</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">folders, holding only the</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">hope of less clutter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thoughts race like subways,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">beneath the surface, unseen,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">clacking and rumbling.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">White earbuds are in,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and the student enjoys his</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">classroom solitude.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Pen held in mid-air,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">like an antenna waiting </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for any signal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Low hum of the air</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">exchanger--a respite from</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">endless teacher talk.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A teacher’s day ends</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">with smears of marker on her </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">arms, and tired eyes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stacks of papers, and</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">hours of work--at least it</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">appears organized.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sadness is a gray</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">day, nothing more. Wait</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">for weather to change.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anger, the devil</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">you know, can transform with some</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Caveat, cursive; font-size: 14pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">simple kindnesses. </span></div>
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</span>steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-18392814502795926882017-04-21T12:57:00.000-04:002017-04-21T12:57:23.431-04:00A Letter to My Students<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t say it enough, but I care about you. Each of you. That’s why I’m here. It’s too much work to do it for the money, so there must be something else, and that’s it: I care about you. I want everyone to do well, feel safe, feel valued, be happy, find success.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This room is our space. It’s a safe space. It’s generally calm. Whether the door is literally open or shut, you are welcome here, whether it’s during your scheduled class time or not. I want you to use this space to your advantage. Leave your worries and troubles at the door, and do your best to be fully present. More and more often, that means not being distracted by your phone. (You knew this part was coming.) If you are in the middle of a crisis, it’s unlikely that you will be able to solve it and be present in the class at the same time. If it’s not fatal or contagious, it can wait. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here’s what happens when you continue to deal with a crisis after you enter our classroom: You appear distracted, anxious, upset. I wonder what’s up. I ask you to put aside your phone--and your emotions, for a time. Giving or getting further information in the midst of this is rarely good. It doesn’t end well. I’ve seen emotions pass across your faces like four seasons in a second. That may surprise you. I observe more than grammar. This is make-or-break time: you will compose yourself, or things will escalate. It won’t end well. Students shut down or leave the room without permission. To do what? Solve the problem? Ask yourself: how many times has that actually happened? </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Think about your teachers. What are they dealing with, what are they carrying? Here’s a partial list: concern for aging parents, their own children, their spouses or partners, their own aging bodies and minds, bills, finances, whether or not they are getting sick, their colleagues, that stuff that absolutely needs to get done before the day ends. Somehow we manage. I won’t call it wisdom. It’s simply practice at regulating our own emotions. We taught after 9/11, after any number of national school shootings, after the presidential election, and any number of other polarizing, controversial or upsetting events. It’s guaranteed that some of us are going through a dark night of the soul during block 1 while you are doing a warm-up. Our experience has shown us what we can and cannot control. Adulthood is constant negotiation between those two things. The sooner anyone realizes that, the better equipped he or she is. </span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Okay, so what? Well, this is the hidden curriculum. The stuff you learn that’s not listed in any syllabus or course overview. It’s in the novels and plays we read, once you decode them and read between the lines. Protagonists face conflicts. It’s how they face them that reveals character. You are writing your story right now. Every moment contains a choice. How will you face them? What later events in your own life are you foreshadowing right now? </span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ask yourself: This thing that has me so upset--will it be important in an hour? A day? A year? Ten years? Or will it pass quickly like a spring shower? Think about the verb </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to weather</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;">It gets better. Sometimes it gets worse, then it gets better again. Remember that we are together on a mission to make sure that you get what you need, intellectually and otherwise. I care, and I will continue to care as long as I remember you. </span></div>
</span>steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-2949764821388689162017-03-29T13:10:00.002-04:002017-04-11T20:33:52.404-04:00Haiku<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What we don’t see: on </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the back of a cell phone, a </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sky of brilliant stars. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i> (after Basho)</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">An idle day, on</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the couch with cats, hum of the</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">refrigerator.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A week’s clothes tumble </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">in the dryer, and we read,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">silent, together.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hunger pain like</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a pull inward, so familiar</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">it feels like family.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">They say we are made</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">of stardust, but today I </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">simply feel burned out.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cuts and scars are there</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to see--what healing happens</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">where eyes can’t see?</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sleep scans the crackly</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">radio dial of dreams,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">voices in static.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Undone homework--what</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">is that sound? It’s the teacher’s</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">head hitting the board.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Her life was a bad</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">first draft, ripe for revision’s</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">heavy, cutting pen.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the morning starts with</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a cold razor to the skin--</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">this is called </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">normal</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">?</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">The man sits in his </span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">tower of gold and mirrors--</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">windows warp what’s real. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the hill, bare trees </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">stand like shocks of thinning hair--</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">a man’s late winter. </span>steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-37782812492519534972016-12-21T22:12:00.002-05:002016-12-21T22:13:00.979-05:00Los Vatos<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Domingo drives, arm out</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The window, tan olive skin</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Against purple metal flake,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Riding low, blue exhaust notes</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the small block </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Purrs and roars with</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stoplight rhythms. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Junior and Cesar jump in,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Screw-top bottle rattles</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Belt buckles and key rings,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And someone turns </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The music up,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Inky bass rumbles, </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bright horns, percussion</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sass back, and the</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sun sets west of Chico,</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And they roll, these</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sons of poverty, heirs</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To stubborn dirt, the car</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A royal robe letting everyone</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Know they have arrived. </span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-a21bec03-2482-d62d-983f-e2cb4d996db2"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-33282766014883879292016-12-14T21:46:00.000-05:002016-12-14T21:47:02.519-05:00Test Anxiety<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fill
out your answer sheet</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">With
a number-two pencil.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Make
neat black circles.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Do
not leave anything blank.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Make
no stray marks.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Your
exam will be machine scanned.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Raw
scores will be recorded.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Fill
out your pencil sheet</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">With
answer number two</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Circle
neat black makes</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Do
not blank anything. Leave.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Make
no marks strays.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Your
scan machine will be examined</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Recorded
scores will be raw</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Pencil
sheet fill out </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">#2
answer</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Black
makes circles neat</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Leave.
Do not blank.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Stray
marks no make</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Examine
your scan machine</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Answer
raw records</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%;">
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Answer,
out</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Black,
blank</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">#2
stray</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Scan
scan scan</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Raw
circle</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Do
not blank</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Leave</span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Leave
</span></span></span>
</div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 138%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Leave</span></span></span></div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-17773284679592914692016-10-27T21:39:00.000-04:002016-10-27T21:39:26.907-04:00Haiku<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Jesus died for your </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">sins, and the dinosaurs died</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">for your gasoline.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Less light falls today,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">an early bed, a chance to</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">turn in, turn inward.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Seats for seven, but</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">six are empty—the car’s solace</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">for the sole driver.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Men in suits talk tough,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">thousands of miles from the</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">soldier on fire.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">War is not fought from</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">a chair; countries are not led</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">from the battlefield.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Don’t imitate me—</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">It’s like an echo, always</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">coming in second. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The annoying fly—</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">I’d let you live if you stayed</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">slightly out of reach.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">In the museum, </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">a girl sits, trying for the</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">most charming selfie. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">They put on ears, tails—</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">It’s nothing new, this human </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">worship of felines.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">The cat kneads the soft</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">blanket, remembers happy</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">times with his mama.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-49116486851698187992015-11-23T21:24:00.000-05:002015-11-23T21:24:12.124-05:00November haiku<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">I just stepped outside </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">under the nearly-full moon. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">It smells like winter.</span>steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-30327038675838571992015-11-12T14:15:00.000-05:002015-11-12T14:15:16.527-05:00Practice, Rehearse, Repeat<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The snow is falling, visible in the cone of light from the
streetlight. I am passing underneath, in a long coat, hat and scarf, carrying
my clarinet in its rectangular case. I am walking from, not to, a music
rehearsal. I am warm, thanks to my clothing, but in my soul also. I have just
experienced a shared musical experience, a closeness in which I felt at ease,
involving many individuals making an increasingly unified sound as we follow
the score and the conductor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">We are all in grade school, and the instruments have not been
in our hands for long. We are simultaneously working on breath control,
counting, and reading the language of music on the printed page. Our conductor
has tremendous patience, but he too was here once. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I am alone and content as I walk up my street, maybe humming
a bit of one of our pieces. I’ve left behind the room with the brilliant wooden
floors and the warm heat, knowing I’ll be back, as the ritual of individual
practice and group rehearsal continues. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’ve carried this scene in my head for years. I don’t know if
it happened exactly like this, but it is real—as real as anything. It makes
more sense to me now, and it is a window into my personality. I’m an introvert
who enjoys social situations. Just as important, however, is the down time, the
alone time—socializing takes my energy, and the recharge is essential. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Music is solitary and social. It is communication on another
level, going beyond spoken language. It’s solace, comfort, challenge,
frustration, reward, affirmation—and may it always be so. Music teaches me many
things: how to count and be aware of rhythm, in everything from my steps to my
heart; dynamics—when to be loud, when to be quiet; when to play, and when to
rest. Music forges friendships that
sustain. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The frequent scene now is a furnished basement. There are
four adults, and the occasional grade-school spectator. There is no conductor,
just our small ensemble, all around the same age, playing music broadly
described as “rock.” I place my hands now on the bird’s-eye maple neck of an
electric guitar. The music is in my mind, not on a page, so I may close my
eyes. The boy under the streetlight is there, too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-53467357100504235532015-08-27T13:26:00.000-04:002015-08-27T13:26:10.916-04:00Interviewing the Critic in My Head<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in; page-break-before: always;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>Who
are you?</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">I
am your inner critic, that voice in your head. I often say things
like “you're no good,” “you don't deserve to do well,” “it's
not going to work out.” </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>How
long have you been at it?</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">How
long have you been alive? Forty-six years, although the first few
years were rather slow. Things got busier when you started school,
and interacted with other kids. That's really when you first started
feeling different. That definitely opened the door for me, and gave
me the opportunity to get going. Things like being an only child,
being adopted, I can easily work with that stuff. It was easy to
convince you that there were things wrong with you. You've given me
lots of great material over the years. It's easy work, but also
challenging at times. I like to keep old themes fresh. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>What
makes you happy?</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Seeing
you frown, hearing you sigh, knowing you'll give up. I feed off you.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>You're
telling me you're a parasite?</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Oh
no, no, not that. We are more, ah, symbiotic. There's no real
separation. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>Do
you ever get bored?</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Sure.
How many times can I hear you say “I suck”? I thought you were
good with words. Throw some synonyms up in here, bro. Then there are
those times when you're really happy, like while riding your bike or
playing music, or actually enjoying some intimacy. All these other
committee members show up in your head. They are like annoying
cheerleaders, and I can't compete with them. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>What
is your favorite time to work?</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Oh,
there's lots. When you're driving, when you're trying to fall asleep,
when you first wake up. You start your day with me, not with your
coffee. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>What
do you do when you're not criticizing me?</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Research.
I go back over your thoughts. I keep them very highly organized. I'm
a bit anal-retentive, actually. If you're feeling good, I'll take the
time to dig up some old stuff, things you may have forgotten, like
when that sketchy guy yelled at you in the ShopRite parking lot.
Remember that? You brushed aside his question. He called you an
ignorant, arrogant m**********r?</span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>I
had forgotten about it until just now, thanks. Do you hate me?</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">No.
We always hurt the ones we love. Without you, there is no me. I
suppose a mental-health professional would call that co-dependent.
Hey, we all have to eat. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>What
do you want from me?</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Nothing
but your time and attention. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>What
keeps you going?</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Knowing
that we've made it this far. It's fun to try to stay one step ahead
of you. I like the challenge. I can't wait until your next date. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>Are
you an optimist or a pessimist?</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Optimist,
definitely. Things are getting better all the time—except for you.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>Nice
try. I call shenanigans. I'm not taking that bait in the middle of an
interview. Do you ever get lonely?</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Oh,
sure. But I like being alone. You're an introvert, and that carried
over to me. There's a difference between lonely and alone. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>What's
the most personal thing you're willing to admit?</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Sometimes
I feel bad for you. I really do. But you're that shiny red button
that says DO NOT PUSH. You make it easy. I can't have just one potato
chip... it's like that. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>Do
you define yourself by what you do?</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Didn't
I answer that in the first question? Here's another thing you suck
at. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>If
you couldn't do what you do, what else might you do well?</i></span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Well,
I'm a disembodied entity, so I can't enjoy arts and crafts. I dunno,
I guess I could do a lateral move to another part of your mind. A job
is a job. Are the cheerleaders hiring?</span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><i>Any
plans to retire? </i></span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Nope.
I'd be bored out of my—uh, your—mind. </span></span></span>
</div>
<br />
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.23in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1; padding: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-77687513078791636562015-03-27T23:46:00.002-04:002015-03-27T23:46:55.887-04:00Vows<div class="MsoNormal">
I have agreed to the terms</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have been to the mountaintop</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have called you by name</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have done the deed</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have embraced</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You have all of me</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You have been waiting here</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You have compassed this mountain</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You have my hopes</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You have eliminated the impossible</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have a savior</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have begun</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have come into this house</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have discovered moons</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We have everything we need</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I will survive</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You will know</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We will not be shaken</div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-55235475789579841342015-02-15T13:43:00.000-05:002015-02-15T13:49:51.285-05:00Lost and Found<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm
lost in the glow of glittery things, yet no diamond. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i> First
known when lost!</i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have
held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> W<i>hat's
left to lose?</i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Moments,
their perfume lost, can't be found again.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i> No,
nothing's ever lost!</i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have
lost my back and forward. What do I do when lost? </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i> Stand
still. The trees and bushes beside you are not lost.</i></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(Space
lost its vast dimensions and </span>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">drew
comfortably around them.) </span>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I
finally lost my fear.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i> Wherever
you are is called here. </i></span>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(She
found and lit a last candle.) </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i> I
found one of your poems today. I keep them all in an envelope.</i> </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I've
seen you but I'm only now finding you.</span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(He
found himself thinking of the green park a year ago.)</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I
found I could say things with colors and shapes that I couldn't say
any other way. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i> I
found you like a trinket in an old trunk.</i></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(He
found the answer down on his knees, found the great treasure standing
all open.)</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Free
me from worry, that familiar pain, that trail lost and
found. </span>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(A
clear head will find itself.)</span></div>
<i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Wherever
we are is called here. </i>steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-73993921031415730082014-07-31T23:28:00.001-04:002014-07-31T23:28:28.682-04:00Here, Now
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">He's in a wheelchair, bundled, </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">shoes with generous tread that</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">will go unused, and his
voice </span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">is slurred, as if coming from </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">a shell, the edges rounded off, </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the sea's soft sibilance, and </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I hear it resonate through </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the chair's metal frame, as </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">he sweet-talks the willowy </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">rec therapist. Next, I feel </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">his weight, lean into the </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">handles to push him through</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the parking lot, where he sees</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the building's exterior for the </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">first time, and together, </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">we feel the spring breeze, </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">life again, blossoming trees.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Then we sit on a bench, eye
level, </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the familiar cadence of
conversation</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">with his blue eyes bright,
recalling</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">years of stories, each one
opening </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">like a bud, new again--</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and today is a seed opening,</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">another beginning, one that </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">will come to me, spirit willing,</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">a perennial memory, some spring</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">--or winter—far from now,</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">as sure as the warm air</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and sun here, now. </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
</div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-13726066651614041982014-07-30T23:14:00.000-04:002014-07-30T23:14:01.957-04:00Re-creation
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The room in which</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I teach exists, surely,</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">but I'm miles from it,</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">even further in my mind,</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">as my bicycle's overlapping</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">circles of wheels, cranks</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and gears turn smoothly</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">in the July sun. Later,</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I'll enjoy the sounds of</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">wood and wire as I</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">play guitar out back.</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">As I ride, I think of how</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">every pedal stroke, every </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">strum or pluck marks some</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">incremental reset and</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">recovery from the </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">endurance activity</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">that is teaching, and I</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">add one little hyphen</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and find that recreation</span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">is re-creation. </span>
</div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-84657480662292023462014-07-29T22:52:00.001-04:002014-07-29T22:52:42.203-04:00Enough to Move Worlds
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">gravity
and attraction are </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">enough
to move worlds </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">silently
through the void</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">purely
physics atoms</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">doing
what they do</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">because
we have </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">to
call it something</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">energy
and matter</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">each
is also the other</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">there
are things beyond our </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">knowing
as it should be</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">even
light only reaches so far</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the
tiny slivers we see are </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">fragments
of something </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">bigger
like how a kiss in the dark</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">sends
up sparks like fireworks </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">behind
closed eyes and </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">warmth
floods in dust of </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">stars
taken shape summoned </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">up
from primordial ooze </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">eons
of living things saying </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">YES
and the light behind </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">your
eyes is the same energy</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">occult
and charged deep in </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the
coils of the heart becoming</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and
willing itself out</span></span></div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-12448250640113249022014-07-28T22:47:00.000-04:002014-07-28T22:47:01.917-04:00Here, Not Here
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Part
of me is orbiting far out,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">waves
and vibrations playing</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">some
cosmic chord--</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">another
part is locked in tight, buried deep</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and
dark, some rare element in my heart</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">or
elsewhere, something I <i>know </i> </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>by
heart</i>, by feel only, something </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm
guarding very carefully. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Two
aspects of the same thing,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">shaped
by pressure and space. </span>
</div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-64175844722923485952014-07-27T23:12:00.003-04:002014-07-27T23:12:53.400-04:00Untitled Tanka
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I crave a northbound </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">road to unhaunted landscapes, </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">worries left behind, </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">to where a soft wind rises</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">over and quiets my mind.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
</div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-51620246040891777652014-07-27T21:34:00.002-04:002014-07-27T21:34:58.336-04:00Relics
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; page-break-before: always; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The highway sign flashes</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>caution
caution caution</i></span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and pavement is ripped, </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">coming up in chunks,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">vehicles funneled tightly,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">as I return to my childhood</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">home, and signs in my mind</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">flash as well. I reminisce in </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the fading daylight on the </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">porch where Dad sat in </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">his last days, as summer </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">now wanes slightly. Next </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">day, Mom and I cart off</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">a truckload to auction, high
chairs</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and other relics of someone</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I was and somehow still am, </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">an emptying house, another type
of </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">season ending, the parting out</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">of things, outward effects of </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">life lived well, but not always</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">easily. We leave our lot behind,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">knowing we carry other things </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">burnished with the wind and </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">water of age, carry them in us,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">shining more brightly than</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">any polished antique. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
</div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-35178925675947032702014-07-25T22:35:00.000-04:002014-07-25T22:40:29.921-04:00Prisoner and Jailer<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While
you are the prisoner</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">in
your cramped, damp cell,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">you
are also the warden, the jailer, </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the
one with the keys hanging close, </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">their
sweet music reaching in </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">past
your own locks, the sound of </span>
</div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">what
if, of freedom, of YES. </span></div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-77185952983658406892014-07-24T23:05:00.005-04:002014-07-24T23:05:55.499-04:00Home
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; page-break-before: always; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The house in which I now</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">find myself offers up cues</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">to childhood, to years past</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">coming back as if wired </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">directly into my senses:</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the walls of heat in the attic</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and the smell of cardboard</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and dust, the earthy cool of</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the basement, the burbling</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">lawnmowers and the cut</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">grass coloring my shoes</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and tickling my nose with </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">its slight peppery sweetness.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The bills come, as they</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">surely did then, monthly,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and I can't look at a wall</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">or window for too long before</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">deciding it needs attention. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Still, friends are a walk or</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">a bike ride away, no plan
needed.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Still, I open a heavy door and
</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">a basketball bounces in the </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">street, and the ice cream
truck's</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">song shifts down a step as it</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">passes, a bittersweet modulation</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">as things stay the same and</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">we move through them like</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the high, harmless clouds</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">in the July sky. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br />
</div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-85037444627325742172014-07-23T21:56:00.003-04:002014-07-23T22:01:50.220-04:00Free Me<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Free me from worry, that
familiar pain,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">a well-traveled trail, lost and
found.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Show me what my heart can
contain.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Get me out of the canyon before
the rain.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Show me the way to the high
ground,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">free me from worry, that
reaching pain.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Lead me away from losses and
gains--</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">not all victories will bring
renown.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Show me what my heart can
contain.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Let my breath be a simple
refrain</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">as I climb higher, with a brief
look down.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Free me from worry, that
following pain.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Not everything demands to be
explained--</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">mountains move without a sound.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Show me what my heart may
contain.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Safe now, walking the high, calm
plain,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">a brilliant moon hangs low and
round.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">You transform my worry, that capricious pain,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and show me what my heart always
contains. </span>
</div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-10580340256877105362014-07-22T22:39:00.002-04:002014-07-22T22:39:59.577-04:00Late Sun
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Riding along the </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">rural road this evening, the</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">burn in my muscles</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">dropped away for a time, and</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the late sun glowed like honey. </span>
</div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-5546673539434010932014-07-21T23:06:00.002-04:002014-07-21T23:09:32.516-04:00Ode to the Peloton<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Sweet rolling </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">order and chaos,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">sinuous and shifting,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">amorphous, flowing</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">over the road's shapes,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">shelter from capricious</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">wind, my friend and foe.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Hive mind, move as one,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">an agile flock in flight,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">tuned to one's wing flick</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and subtle vector.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">My solace and my prison--</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">escape off the front,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">fade away and die</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">off the back.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Mercurial as the wind</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">you split, fast then slow,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">easy until it is not,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">and again, brakes like</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">grabbing hands preface</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the fire in tight sinew, burning</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">red pain betrayed only by</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the slight whirr and whoosh. </span>
</div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-63133940534287511602014-07-20T22:31:00.002-04:002014-07-20T22:31:57.000-04:00A Typical Afternoon
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">The music of the cooling</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">wind in the linden tree,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">sedate summer birdsong,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">maple-filtered light and</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">relieving shade in which</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I now find myself</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">were here before I</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">noted them—just steps </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">away from routine. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">So, too, in my mind,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">to the I behind my eyes,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">the self expanding out</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">from the physical, beyond</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">limbs, but not beyond reach.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">Something within yet larger,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">as the wind and air here</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">join seamlessly with sky,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">though no one can say</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">precisely where. </span>
</div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-81255200162656822802014-07-19T23:41:00.001-04:002014-07-19T23:41:25.125-04:00A Simple Dance
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">So much was said, when</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">my hand was on your back,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">where you placed it, warmth</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">beneath soft cotton, where</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I pushed and released, felt you</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">move beneath my palm,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">with the band's beat,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">toward me, away, back, </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">in time, like breath, </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">unified rhythm, this simple</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">music as our bodies conversed</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">on the sloping floor, yours calling</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">mine back from some strange
journey,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">to this new, unified rhythm,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">your smile saying, simply, </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">keep going. </span>
</div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3053908626701968093.post-42469754182417777172014-07-18T23:25:00.002-04:002014-07-18T23:25:54.300-04:00Fenced
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I observe my thoughts,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">running loose but not far,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">like dogs in a fenced yard,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">worrying down familiar paths,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">fretting around trees already
marked.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">I see them, zigzagging,
crouching,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">laced with potential energy,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">charging, repeating. Let them</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">tire themselves out. They will</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">slow down, quiet, come to me</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">with wet noses and frantic
tails,</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">right to my hands, when they </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-decoration: none;">
<span style="font-size: medium;">are bored and hungry. </span>
</div>
steverinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14179335393007734101noreply@blogger.com0