Clover

I miss the streaming ribbons of highway weaving looping tangles of grey pavement skirting clover fields under the sun swinging low in the fading light blue light, like those twilights spent driving in upstate new york, after having walked out on another arguement, tired of the fight.

95

Marj came into the library where I work on Monday. She couldn't wait to tell me the latest news on her sister. Before she could shimmy out of her full length thrifted turquoise coat she started filling me in on her sister's 95th birthday which took place the previous weekend in Florida. At the age of 95 her sister still enjoys an active outdoors lifestyle. Marj tells me that her sister isn't able to walk very well on account of arthritis, but she can still hold an oar and paddle. For her birthday, she went on a 25 mile kayak trip. The trip was interrupted when her kayak tipped, spilling her into freezing water. It was 40 degrees when she stood shivering on the shore. She told Marj, "It was the perfect birthday." Marj smiled, shook her small fists in the air and said "My sister's a fighter, even at 95. There are young people who can't even do what she did." She was proud.

Some shapes

Some shapes wade in through my mouth. They linger in the narrows, lapping against the ballast of my tongue, gently rocking the roots of my teeth. Some shapes sneak in through the corner of my eye. They slip through soft footed covering their tracks, traveling untraceable as they glide through the pass. Other shapes climb in through my right ear. Settling in a washed out cleft, braced and secure against the eminent tides. Some shapes are breathed in, absorbed through fingertips, carried on the skin before sinking heavy and released again.

Thank you

marj is a regular at the library where i work. she lives in an apartment complex across the street. her husband used to come in on a regular basis before his passing last march. he would read the papers and talk about the stock market and the price of gas, how to save money and the environment. he was a runner and loved to race. marj would come in front time to time to read the paper or newsweek. we never spoke much, marj and i. she started coming in almost every day, monday-friday last summer. she started using the computer. her kids helped her set up an email account and showed her a few computer basics. when she comes across something new or unknown she asks me for help. she tells me about her bingo winnings and how she gives the proceeds to the food pantry. "50cents...$2..." she says "it adds up." today she walked into the library, stood in front of my desk and reached into her pocket. "I have something for you!" she said. pulling out an envelope and opening it it to show me what was inside, she said "it's just a little treat, they were giving them away at bingo and i thought 'i know just who to give this to.'" she gave me the little cup with red and white m&m's and a dove milk chocolate heart and i said "thank you" about a dozen times... but it doesn't feel like i could ever say thank you enough to express my gratitude towards marj, her thoughtful gesture and how it made me smile.

new day

The buzz of my phone woke me up this morning a few minutes to six. My mom sent a text with a photo of my cousin (Adam) holding his brand new baby boy, followed by another text saying that this baby was born on my late papa's (her father's) birthday. Adam is the first of 14 cousin's on my mom's side to have a baby. He is the 4th oldest (I am the 3rd). I'm beyond happy for my family. Waking up to good news is a great way to start any day! Also... blue skies!

Happy birthday papa and new baby!

Here comes the sun
by the Beatles
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right

Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right

Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun
and I say it's all right

Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes...

Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,
and I say it's all right
It's all right

prince charming

Incurable
by Dorothy Parker

And if my heart be scarred and burned,
The safer, I, for all I learned;
The calmer, I, to see it true
That ways of love are never new-
The love that sets you daft and dazed
Is every love that ever blazed;
The happier, I, to fathom this:
A kiss is every other kiss.
The reckless vow, the lovely name,
When Helen walked, were spoke the same;
The weighted breast, the grinding woe,
When Phaon fled, were ever so.
Oh, it is sure as it is sad
That any lad is every lad,
And what's a girl, to dare implore
Her dear be hers forevermore?
Though he be tried and he be bold,
And swearing death should he be cold,
He'll run the path the others went....
But you, my sweet, are different.

scene

The first light is faint. A sliver of moon still glints in the sky. Rooftops covered in snowfall from last night are illuminated by the pink golden glow of sunrise. The light is brightest just before the sun slips behind the heavy grey that blankets the February sky. Her eyes open under the white sheets on her white bed in her white room which is in her white house in the white north. She is looking without seeing for a moment before her vision gains focus and expands again. Confused by the diaphonous view through bedsheets diffused by morning light, she calculates her location with non-exact percision. She is here. Outside leafless branches bend and flex with the casual movement of melting ice. Without looking at the clock, she suspects the train has already left and that it is a quarter to nine.


...to be continued