Headline Poem 6/30/14 -- I am a better

(Photo credit Google Image)

I read this powerful post tonight about the life and death of poet Rachel Sherwood. It inspired today's poem about a younger self, and the simplicity of things. 

I am a better 

I am a better
lover now
than in my youth.
My hands coil and curve,
respecting gathering

earth

(this matters as much as
stars that shoot
and dreams that exude
colors they are
not supposed to). 

I caress the absence of fear,

A lover on its own

a floating, flowering,
furnace of heat. 

  The kind that 

is  
  not afraid
to
     ask for more.

Warm lasts where
hot does not,

like a pile of
leaves,
   green, then yellow,
then brown,

I am a heart that beats,
and vow to speak
(to you)
in the same language
today
     in our light
as I will tonight    
        in our dark. 

I am

unable to move 

unless the mild sky
smiles wildly
and covers me in a
transparent blanket
of water,
a clearer (oddly) version of myself.

I am a better
today, than yesterday. 

Headline Poem 6/29/14 -- Reminiscing

I read a post today about reminiscing about the past. That inspired today's poem. 

Reminiscing 

Reminiscing. 

Of the days gone South 

remind you only of what you are without. 

There is nothing like living and learning, that's for certain,

but if you stay back in the seat of lies and dreadful stories and lacks of compromise,

You will lose your current self and give up any hope 

of rebuilding the shelf 

that is willing to store 

     the books,

     and carry 

     the weight. 

Walk forward and stand up straight. 

It's okay to stop to catch your breath, 

But 

if the motion contorts and forces your neck 

to stretch 

to the side that hurts the most, 

     Talk to it, listen to it, and then      respectfully ignore it (Or ask it to kindly F itself). 

Your current self deserves your time. 

Your self today did no crime. 

Live without exception 

and worrying about dots unconnected. 

The truth is, no one's (dots) are. 

Connected perfectly. 

They want what you want and you want what they want 

And if you talked about it, you'd see, 

Everyone's giving and everyone needs 

to feel 

and laugh 

and run 

and play 

and

Drink milk and eat Oreos and sing in the rain. We all deserve today. 

We deserve us. We deserve dried fruit and neon stuff. We deserve to listen to music about me and you 

where the lyrics remind us of the ones we are and were. 

Reminisce to the words you write yourself. It sucks ass to know you have the power sometimes,

But you do. And just as your mother (or third grade teacher) would say -- finish one thing before you start another. 

So fly your alien invaded spaceship up into the sky, sit down and smile and stop asking why. 

You're here now 

     and      alive. 

You lucky bitch. You deserve it. 

It's awesome. 

Embrace all good shit! 

Headline Poem 6/28/14 -- Like a Girl

The Always maxi pad campaign is really taking off by aiming to make doing anything #likeagirl a positive, especially during puberty when young girls are susceptible to not being proud of being themselves. Here is the headline and tonight's poem. http://mashable.com/2014/06/26/always-maxi-pads-like-a-girl/#:eyJzIjoiZiIsImkiOiJfMDZ1YXFheGxwNWN6M3ZyNCJ9

Like a Girl

When you ask me to run like a girl and then watch me toss my fluffy hands in the dramatic air

without purpose, and 

without poise,

you are asking me to deny my strength and to superficially take up space. 

I know I am strong and can fight and jump and hit like a girl, and that what that looks like is beauty, not fake. 

It means 

arms sturdy, 

accomplishment in my eyes, 

it means the ability to not deny the intensity and determination that lives inside.  

I've been 

Doing these 

Things

Incredibly and with agility since I first learned to stretch out my body 

and move. 

Do not mock or mimic or minimize my truth by making doing anything #likeagirl a joke or spoof. 

I roar. I shine. I am me, and I will continue to be proud to live and love

Like a Girl!  

Headline Poem 6/27/14 -- Tomato Soup

There isn't much better than a fresh, ripe summer tomato. I read this headline tonight about the worst thing to do with one -- put it in the refrigerator! http://qz.com/226955/science-implores-you-dont-put-your-tomatoes-in-the-refrigerator/ Here is today's poem. 

Tomato Soup 

Rich and creamy, it satisfies the soul. 

On summer evenings it's all you'll want in your bowls. 

One night 

you may feel like switching things up,

aiming to 

try less salt to fill you up. 

But. 

Let me warn you 

fair and plain,

low sodium tomato soup just

doesn't taste the same,

for once you're used to something 

the way you like it, 

you won't want it to change.  

Headline Poem 6/26/14 -- Girls with Sisters

Today, there is a New Moon in Cancer, a water sign. This inspired tonight's poem. 

Girls with Sisters

Water is a beautiful mystery to me,

like girls with sisters, 

I can't relate 

to the 

secretive language 

and 

refreshing storms, 

ravishing and manipulative, 

I stare more, 

in awe 

of all that goes on 

in front of and behind 

the cloudy scenes,

I am intrigued 

by the power and magic

of even the smallest stream 

Water and girls with sisters lure me in only to spit me out, 

a private club I know nothing about. 

Like a seaside manor with electric gate, and catching dragonflies and staying up late, 

I watch from afar as the trickles turn to pools, 

fascinated and envious of 

starry night rules. 

Headline Poem 6/25/14 -- The Canvas

I read this tonight about an Australian artist who used his paintings to retake the land taken from him in the bush of Australia. http://m.theaustralian.com.au/arts/visual-arts/retaking-the-land-through-painting/story-fn9d3avm-1226966767053?nk=7f8dff3325912baf31804a5084d1115a 

Here is today's poem. 

The Canvas 

I can take colors and make them 

change like melted butter on my skin. 

I'm a dreamer. 

Do not leave me and let me pass. 

I have something to offer if you stop and ask.

I can take the splatter and the mess ups, the blended concoctions that go all wrong. 

I can look the other way while you hurry things along. 

I'll sing to keep myself busy, or whisper our private call. 

I'll wait patiently while you rearrange me on the wall. 

When you're satisfied, I'll let you look at me,

and when I'm ready, 

I'll curtsy neatly on the floor. 

Headline Poem 6/24/14 -- Life

Elizabeth Gilbert's new book The Signature of All Things was released in paperback today. She is promoting it all around the world, and once I finish the eight books I have lined up ahead of this one, I will read it. In the meantime, I reflect on life. 

Life 

I want to grow old

with sagging body and forgetful mind. 

I want the dirt of the earth to 

welcome me home. 

   (Though 

   Not 

   Today. 

I still have tens of thousands of words to read,

signatures to write, 

And miles to explore). 

I know I'm needed. Here. 

In the flesh. 

Where yellow is still yellow, bright and new. Where rainbows appear after a darkened time -- 

colors so bright 

you almost beg again for the storm. 

But. That's not how it works, thank goodness! 

I want to rock wrinkled (one day) on the porch

With a cool drink and mountain view and recall the days of sunburns and stingrays. 

I want to do that with you. 

I want to smile down at my feet, crooked and curved in all kinds of strange ways because 

Ripples are my favorite things. Always have been. 

Ever since I was a kid and 

realized 

Way leads on to way... & that today connects to yesterday. Toes are like that in the end. 

Familiar like old friends. 

I want to complete this life with no hunger inside, 

Not starved or lacking of 

Compromise. 

I want to see me through a looking glass decorated with beads 

and see

A woman who 

in the best and worst of times hung her head so high

People thought she'd fly 

With airplanes and their wings,

Loud, 

led by a pilot trained in loving rhymes, master balancer of speed and time. 

I sleep knowing 

you know me so well. I wake 

feeling content because I believe 

In eagles and wildflowers and paradises on earth. 

I am lucky because I've been alive since birth.