gyrmination

It is a luxury
to walk outside and be in the woods.
The silent mass of the woods -
the few cars that do pass are quiet
electric, almost.
Two inches, so far,
add a softness
to the ever-pockmarked Albany streets.
A traffic light changing over
may be admired for its perserverence
in increasing solitude.

A sparrow nestles in my hair.
The brambly stock provides good cover, but
pert feathers peek over the edge.
I feel them fan and brush.
Snip snip to
Tickle and tug to
Trim and pluck to
bring a little order to
my unkempt crown.
Her tiny beak makes a quilt of the thatch
with the tenderness of making a home.
Too absorbed in her work to […]

Fell asleep at the wheel.
Wake up under seven inches of snow.
Frosted breath glistens on every porthole onto the gray sediment.
I hear
my heart pounding Let me out!
Spill forth to join
something unknown.
An ancient memory in my bones.
I take a moment to consider the world I’ve left behind
this unbroken seal of powder.
I find
I am smiling.

Katrina was bad.
Swished around New Orleans like a gold prospector
panning for gleaming nuggets.
Only unearthed something real ugly.
Instead of ugliness, now,
we’d prefer to be faced with the banal.
Hurricane fever, you might call it.
Suddenly!
battered-looking reporters
gushing first impressions, concern heavy in their voices,
are starting to seem a lot like heroes.
Which hurricane will be next?
How will the government respond?
Fearsome […]

What I need to relieve my dry
eyes is a good cry.
Tell me I’ve not grown those
years I was gone.
Reduce me to your greatest
vision of me:
Obedient automaton.
(孩子不是人。)
Incapable by design to see the
flaws of a hypocritical maker.
In whose image.
To whose image
one shouldn’t compare.
We are all dreams biding fulfillment
or demise at the hands of
those who love us most.
Love […]