Just work it out however you can

moving on

green light bounces
and shimmers
as rays of water
transformed into light
fill the shadows
tracing happy patterns
in the darkness
that skitter from
my touch

birdsong beckons
from distant shores
and the rocking of this boat
takes on a hypnotic trance
that feels like contentment
yet drips with colors
reflected from the past
in a hall of mirrors
where each vision
bends a little
around the next
until the original
is no more

the lids of my eyes
grow heavy and weak
fragile shades against
the storm of memory
that beats against this
placid hull
full of sights and sounds
and smells
which can only be conjured
in the mind
oblivious to the light
and song and feel
of the world outside

but the glorious forms
of these daggers of light
tattoo my eyes
with the reality of now
cracking this case
around my heart
in which I lug
the memories
of the dead
until I can no longer
tell where memory stops
and reality begins

each crack opens
a waterfall of light
and drowns my senses
with the beauty
of life without you
my brow smooths
in this soft kiss of color
blinding my eyes
with the burden
of moving on
into the sunlight
without leaving
the best of myself
to play in the shadows
with my beloved
reflections

Symbolism pie a'la mode

cleaning house

the swirl of the sky
against the glass
records the movements
of misplaced order -
windex frozen in streaks
never quite coming clean
like that most human
of activities
echoed in the leaves
that sway and bob
marking time as
a cobweb twists
a mocking jig
in the corner

(And that was me trying to be cheerful and comment on the nice weather... I think I need to work on that a bit... But it's still a good poem, if you ask humble little me...)

Goofing with my new camera

This image is completely untouched by Photoshop. I used an "artistic" filter in the camera (something I never do...) I shot the image around 3:00 p.m. on May 15 under sunny conditions, no flash, camera fully auto except ISO of 100. You be the judge.

p.s. This guy lives at the base of my steps leading to the house. He is one of my protectors!

Oh, and this (great egg video)

I made this incubator from a styrofoam cooler! Amazing experience.

First class

It went well today. Short and sweet. I think this will be a good semester. I love giving out the eggs for the first exercise! Check out this egg video I shot a while back:

May 4th - day of strange observances

May 4th is....

National Candied Orange Peel Day

and (drum roll please...)

Chicken Appreciation Day!!!!!! Wahoo!

Fabulous!

http://www.stupid.com/fun/CALF.html

Scary

It is a scary time to be on the earth right now, but at least there is still beauty. Hang in there. Be sure to wash your hands before you eat.

Enough with the doom and gloom

Here are my 3 kitties!

for ME and for me

the smell of your favorite shirt last night -
that stupid Whinnie the Pooh shirt
you carelessly flung across the chair -
stopped me dead

suddenly you were fully fleshed
and standing before me
vibrant and shining with health
i wrapped my arms around
the shirt and held you close

the irony of an empty shirt
containing so much precious to me
could not hold back the tidal wave
of mixed emotions as i pressed
the memory of you deep against myself

we danced that way -
an awkward dance with no beat -
until you filled the hole
and despair leaked away

your face, your voice, the salt of your skin
stayed behind and circled
through the ragged space that once
overflowed with the force that was YOU
filling a void i thought was infinite

a transcendent peace
wafted through me and
the more I inhaled the shirt
the less i could see you, or hear you,
touch you or taste

the passing of your scent opened me
to the new you, the one who will
remain with me forever but whom i cannot touch -
my constant companion, purveyor of peace,
wellspring of emotions that eat me whole and
spit out the new me

your body may be gone but you live on -
the form of your presence has changed, but
my body is starting to grow accustomed
to smelling your new presence

i laid the shirt back on the chair
and walked away
it was now just an empty thing
like when i left you behind in your hospital bed
ears purpling and flesh cooling

and that moment crushed me
and saved my life
because it was then that you
became the best part of me

and even though you are with me
in these metaphorical lines
and always in my thoughts
i still miss you like sin
and love you like the moon
but at least i had a chance
to know you

thank you