Watermark

Snapshot 09 June 02004

something like that blue
cloud, thunder rolling
through our valley, hail
in the flower beds, or this
lukewarm tea in the Chinese
mug on the brass table --

something like this sun
or this gnat on the page,
scents of solomon seal
and cigarette smoke entwining
in the garden, wind rustling
the birches --

something like the neighbor's
dog barking at the noisy pickup
and rap music from a radio,
somewhere -- black pavement
gleaming after rain, something
like that -- this solitary life

I Am

Or else I'm

I'm getting there.
I don't suck,
but I've got a ways to go.

Or perhaps I am merely


. . . I'm so confused . . .

Flood Watch

the river has receded      
but still I am      
drowning      

my hair has come undone      
combs on the river bottom      
nosed by sequined fish      

round and smooth      
as a river-stone      
I am falling      

trout jump      
into the glistening      
foaming air      

I comb my hair out      
in the morning      
twist it up along the curve      

of the back of my      
skull      
among the stones      

at the bottom      
of the river perhaps      
I can hold      

my breath long enough      
to float      
to the top      

   

Blue Flax & Red Poppies

God Is Watching Us

The cat in the window admires    
the sparrows. Longing trembles    
from the back of her throat. She loves    
the quills of the feathers, the little stick    
feet, the delicate veins in the wings.    

Links Blog

I've set up a Links blog; rationale here. This replaces my old Links page -- just click the LYNX on the sidebar to get there.

Snapshot 02 June 02004

a week of grief      
and broken things      

but then the moon      
filled out round      

& this bright      
birdsong morning      

Breathe

Whiskey River so often has what I need. Usually it is words, but today it is this, from the bottom of the Whiskey River page.

My Brother's Birthday

Richard Julian Brogan
b. May 30, 1951
d. October 4, 1986

Rage Monster

This was drawn nearly 20 years ago, but is suitable for today. I seem to be riding emotional waves lately. Relationships can be so . . . difficult.

Anger, especially, with all its relatives: judgement, self-pity, despair. But also, sometimes: clarity, resolution, action. Always that fear, though, that it will overcome me; overwhelm others -- that, once roused, it will consume us all.

See it there, waiting, sinister, hungry?

Sudden Happiness

At the end of a long, dim day I sit in my rain-drenched garden and am suddenly overcome with happiness -- for absolutely no reason.

Musical Kittens

    

Two selections from the Kitten repertoire (Flash)

Thanks to scribblingwoman, who thanks George.

Message from TypePad

We apologize for the intermittent slow performance of TypePad web sites over the past 2-3 [more like 7 - editorial comment] days. We're having some problems with our storage servers, so we're scheduling a hardware upgrade for the early morning of Saturday, May 28, 2004, from 12:00am to 2:00am Pacific time. During that time, TypePad-powered sites and TypePad itself will be down for maintenance. Thanks for your patience!

Posted by Mena on May 26, 2004

Snapshot 26 May 02004

too
ill to
write a snapshot

Hearts & Eggs

In the third night of heart-attack dreams
(hearts cracking in the shell of the body)

I get out of my bed and watch the pale
cracked egg of the moon. I picture you

at your desk in the prison, holding this
poem in one hand, reading. You reach out

Continue reading " Hearts & Eggs"

Sun

The first blue morning in six days. In drought country, it is bad form to complain about rain -- and I don't -- but surely I can be forgiven for welcoming the sun?

TypePad is Experiencing Problems

TypePad has been having problems with comment spamming, and either that or their solution to that has slowed page loading -- sometimes pages load quickly but oddly. This has been happening off and on for several days now. I can only ask that you be patient -- and if the page loads oddly, try holding down your shift key while loading; this sometimes works for me.

I hope they resolve this soon.

Hi, I'm Sharon, and I'm a BlogAddict

A Must-Read, from BLAUGUSTINE. She suggests some (very unrealistic) treatments, including:

1. Blog only once a week, choose a day (haven't decided which day yet).
2. Check stats only once a week (you cannot be serious??)

No permalinks, scroll to May 22. -- Hey! Look at this -- I've learned something new! There's a trick called PurpleSlurple which mysteriously lets you "make" a permalink (a purple-link) where there wasn't one before. So go to BLAUGUSTINE May 22, and there you are! (Found via Radio Free Blogistan.)

ADDENDUM

The above is especially relevant today, since I just started a new weblog: Blogging Blog. This is a place for me to practice new skills.

I've learned a lot doing this one, but it's all "surface" learning, using the easy stuff TypePad provides. I have a "pro" account, and could do much more, but don't want to risk messing up the template for Watermark. So I've made a place I can mess up. I'll be moving my blogging and tech links over there, and sharing the angst as I experience it.

Feel free to visit and advise.