Sunday, June 29, 2008

Strawberries and Shadows


Some art gallery, San Diego, June 2008

Pearl

"Pearl"


When daylight ebbs, my thoughts collect

with no clear thread that I detect

they try to show me what's correct

(but I lay low, and don't suspect).


I wouldn't talk when I was small,

But thoughts stormed through me, like a squall

and chased my parents down the hall.

(I wonder if they heard at all). 


And now, I still don't like to speak.

my questions few, answers oblique

contribute to my strange mystique

(a very lonely, strange technique). 


********


(Written about 5 minutes ago in a sleepy stupor:))

Friday, June 27, 2008

Waggling with the Wii

This one needs an explanation--I was trying to think of subject matter for my poem to post tonight, and my boyfriend was playing with his Nintendo Wii in the background, which involves a lot of flailing around. I always call it "waggling" when he plays, so he suggested I write a poem about him playing with his Wii (I know, great punnage abounds in THAT sentence). So I wrote this one in about three minutes, and I really think it should count as my offering for today. :)


(He wants you all to know that he loves it, and he wants it put on his tombstone). 


********



Tedd waggles;

Flopping his arms helplessly, 

like birds

like fish

like someone dying


Tedd waggles;

pixelated opponents tremble

pixelated opponents fall

pixelated opponents

are defeated.


Tedd waggles;

the living room is afire

with false applause

with artificial blows

with the silent whisper

of this 

Modern Age.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

And There's a Creepy Doll


"And there's the creepy doll 
That always follows you 
It's got a ruined eye 
That's always open 

And there's a creepy doll 
That always follows you 
It's got a pretty mouth 
To swallow you whole!"

~Jonathan Coulton, "Creepy Doll"

Back to posting as usual starting friday, poems and all. It was easier to keep up on the photos than the poems while my mom was visiting, so sorry it's been a bit lopsided!

ALSO! I added a link to my friend Brian's page, where he's reading one book a week. Apparently he's been doing this for a couple of months now, and I had no idea? So, there's that to check out.:)

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Bleeding Hearts

My grandma's favorite flower, taken on a walk with my mom June 24, 2008 in NW Portland.

Woman vs. Machine

Machine wins, every time. 

My computer is being finicky and refusing me even its usual begrudging access, so I'm using my boyfriend's computer right now. Which only has broadband, which is paaainfully slow. And of course I don't have access to the photos I just took, since I put them on my computer yesterday. 

Yeah, I know.

So hopefully I'll get Tedd's computer hooked up to the actual internet connection in our home tomorrow, and take more photos to upload, and not get so frustrated with having to wait long laborious minutes to load each page. Just be patient with me.:)

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Little Pig, Little Pig, Let Me In!


Bizarre-O Easter decoration, somewhere in NW Portland.

Antici....

pation.:)

Still with the new-to-you stuff, as my mommy's here and I'm wanting to spend all my time with her.:) So here's another one from a couple of years ago, until I have time to write again...

********

Anticipation


I love you,
Or rather I could love you
If once, through all the banter
All the silly innuendo,
The hours and hours of airy flirtation,
Where we guard ourselves like frightened animals
Afraid to come too close...

If once, you would surprise me
You would break the pattern,
One brave goose
Veering from its chevron across the sky
And finally, submitting to the draw of exploration,
Reach for my hand, inhale the scent of fingertips,
Lay kisses light as powder in my palm.

Talk is not cheap. It has its place
Among the children and the intellectuals.
They must constantly converse upon their fairy tales, to
Keep them alive.

But I am of a simpler sort.
My tongue longs to be still
My eyes long to rest a moment,
And break their habit of coy glances.

I should seize you by the throat, I should
Call down thunder,
I should wave you through the intersection, so you know to
Move forward...

But my heart is still and silent as a pond
Waiting for a stone.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Open Sesame

My mom is visiting for the week, and today is the 4-year anniversary of my dad's death, so I'm not sure how fastidious I'm going to be about posting new stuff this week. So I'll be ransacking my old photo albums and poems for new-to-you postables, and leave you with a photo from 826 Valencia, San Francisco, to ponder over your cereal.:)

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

The Endless Violence!


This is just an extra photo from a couple of years ago that I took on the ever-changing and ever-fabulous Clarion Street in San Francisco. I'm going to post a current photo later today, but I was tweaking this one earlier and wanted to put it up.

When men with beards beg you to stop the violence, you better shut up and listen.

I Want Flopsy, Though I've Been Known to Settle for Mopsy

This is actually a poem from a couple of years ago, but gimme a break, I'm sleepy.:)

********

I want to possess you.
Keep you, sweet,
like cardamom and honey in a dark lacquered bowl.
Own every pure inch of you,
Know you are like an exhausted swimmer--
you've come too far into me,
and you can't make it back to shore.
I want your every move and thought recorded by me
In small, detailed writing, locked up
And hidden from all other prying eyes.

I want you to be a secret from me.
When I scale your walls they should be infinite,
unceasing.
Your soul like a koan,
Your heart a riddle.
When I throw a stone into your well
I want no answering echo, only depths.
I want to wander the forest of you,
growling and pacing with frustration,
My jaws slavering with hunger never sated.

I look at your face, with tenderness,
Your cheek stained always that blushing red,
As if a lover's lips have permanently marked the vibrant skin.
But your eyes are really children's books
I have imagined to be the deepest works of literature,
Your mind a one-way street I have built into the maziest of labyrinths.
You are the canvas I paint all of my desires upon,
The simple snack I have made into a truffled caviared feast,
The golden idol I have built from my own frustrations.
You are my worst humiliation, my most crushing defeat.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Starry Starry Night

Every winter on the streets of Portland, if you time it just right, you will find polar bears cavorting under the stars. Be careful.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Up, Up and Away

Somewhere in Portland, around sunset-time.

Villanelle for Valerie

"Oh comely
I will be with you when you lose your breath
Chasing the only meaningful memory you thought you had left."


--Neutral Milk Hotel, "Oh, Comely"

Villanelle for Valerie

We made our way through the fairgrounds
Sun scorching sphinxes on our skin.
We wore golden crowns, golden crowns.

We browsed the stands, like tiny towns
You practiced Spanish with the men.
We made our way through the fairgrounds.

You bought me beads; you bought us rounds
Of beer that drank like bathtub gin.
We wore golden crowns, golden crowns.

The sun sank low; we heard the sounds
Of boys playing "Oh, Comely." Then
We made our way through the fairgrounds.

And now, as dusk comes settling down,
I can't forfeit what might have been.
(We wore golden crowns, golden crowns!)

For we were young once, and knew no bounds.
We broke hearts, lived forcefully, and then--
We made our way through the fairgrounds.
We wore golden crowns, golden crowns
Made of paper.

Peppermint Dissolving Deep in Her Cheek

picture me, softly
I came to you mostly
with whiskers of filament
tying my hands.

now here i am, ghostly,
god-heaven-and-hostly
with kisses of peppermint,
midnight demands.

but think of me, gently
your patience is kindly
sweeping up the tenement
buried in sand

until we are, lightly
covered almost nightly
with nothing but firmament.
That's how it began.