Spring is a New Beginning

Reflecting on the miracle of spring
how plants and animals,

dormant, in a death-like state,
awaken with the melting snow
burst forth on skeletal branches
with an eruption of color in soft pastels.

Birds return from their southern sojourn
to gather in the awakening trees

to sing the songs of spring,
blossoms bloom and bees hum,

butterflies flitter from flower to flower.

Birth of piglets and lambs,
ducklings, goslings and eaglets
filling the air with squeals, squawks
and other sounds letting mothers
know they are hungry and must be fed.

Storm shutters are put away,
windows opened, house aired out
a restless energy from a long winter
wants to tumble out to build and play. 

Pull out the barbeque, invite
family and friends for an outdoor
meal, playing games of catch and tag
staying out late ‘till the sun goes down.

Welcome spring, welcome life
a new cycle of begins.

Pictures by Bill

Easter Eggs

Spring tradition to gather in a backyards
or open fields and place eggs 

where they can be found

by children carrying tubs or woven baskets.

Some eggs are boiled and decorated
others are colorful plastic.

Older children listening 

for the jingle in the artificial eggs
moving about quickly reminded
to leave some for the little ones.

After all the treats are found

they discover what each bounty holds:
robin’s eggs and marshmallow sweets
candied covered chocolate 
and jelly beans.

Mother’s Grief

Birth, by it’s very nature,
is an awe inspiring miracle,
the quiet before the storm,
of instinctual care to feed
nurture and protect

but what happens when the clock goes wrong,
a lifetime cut short, unplanned, unprepared
for the loss of life’s precious gift?

Mothers wail, cry out in agony
when the script for life is torn
causing physical pain that never heals.
Other species seem to have
similar reactions report witnesses

off Dana Point who saw a female dolphin 
carrying her calf on her dorsal fin.
Other dolphins were at her side 
guiding her through the seawater. 

Why this display? 

The crew and tourists 
on the boat were somber 
the image so poignant and visceral. 

Doors creaked open then slammed shut,
hues of red and orange 
streaked across the horizon,

visitors picked up their belongings and left the boat
carrying with them the image of that mother dolphin
holding her baby above the surface of the water.

Some posted their videos and photographs
telling their story to families and friends
crying for the heartbreaking loss of life

and for the mother whose grief will never end.

Don’t Take Away the Apostrophe

I’ve used the apostrophe all of my life
shows up as a misspelled word

on my spell check, but I’ve ignored
the suggestion to choose two words.

I won’t give up the contraction
or the possessive each connoted 

with an apostrophe: Paul’s shoes, 

Sandy’s nose, Rich’s donuts, 
the witches' brew.

We’ll go insane if we lose this little tool,
a simple mark, placed above the word
to indicates a letter or two are missing 

or who owns the car park at the curb. 

That’s Edwin’s car, don't you recognize it? 

Its, without the apostrophe, is possessive
and with it, it’s a verb.

Here is a little exercise, match the word 
from list one with list two:

LIST ONE:

Where's

She'll

We'd

Didn't

They'd

LIST TWO:  we had   did not     where is     they had   she will

Now write out the two words:

a)  I've   b)  You've  c)  Can't  d)  Who's  e)  He's   f)  Let's

Finally put the apostrophe in the right place:
1. Julie is going on holiday in a weeks time.
2. The womans eyes were a deep blue.

As you can see, life's better with an apostrophe.

Honky Tonk and Beer

When the sun fades, lights glimmer,

and Hank Williams songs 
play on the jukebox

a few lost souls wander into the bar
to have a drink of their favorite beer.

All the regulars are in love 
with the bartender

they know if they ever get 
the courage to ask,
she would run off and marry them
after they get their stuff together

maybe a haircut and a regular job

but until then, they order 
another glass of beer.

Arleene walks through the front door
in her short denim skirt
wants to dance with anyone willing

she’s off limits and they know it
but a couple of swings 
‘round the dance floor

ain’t gonna hurt no one 
so they take a chance

watching for Jake 
to come busting in

to drag her home 
to her babies 
and household chores.

She was pretty once 
but time had it’s way,
still remembers the days, 
not so long ago,

but tonight, for a little while 
she is young and free

dancing across 
the hardwood floor

at the Honky Tonk joint

in the middle 
of nowhere. 

Tools of Torture

A trip to the Museum of Man I wandered
to a display with tools of torture arranged
in random order with clear descriptions
of how and when they were used.

Some I remember when I studied the Spanish
inquisition, French revolution, and the stories 
of English kings and Chinese emperors. 
Most were designed to extract information

many to punish and execute, 
others as a means for conversion.

Observations I made after viewing
several devices that many were made
to inflict pain and humiliation on women. 

There was the Shrew’s Fiddle for gossips,
nags, and women who disturbed the peace,
also a Brank, a metal cage placed over the heads 
of those same gossips and cantankerous women.

The public was always invited to scorn and disparage
all sexually indiscreet women who were forced
to wear plaits made of straw and stand outside
the church reminding those still chaste to be good
or suffer serious consequences.

I could go on, revealing those tools used 
to inflict grisly pain, but let it suffice
for many developing countries these practices
have gone away as long as high heeled shoes,
are not considered tools of torture, nor the sharp
needles for tattoos, or female medical exams.

Some say the internet has now

become the forum for inflicting 

shame and humiliation
along with incriminating 
photos and videos.

Maybe there is something
in the nature of being human,
that condemns the use of torture
yet substitutes viral tools
to discredit and dishonor 

in a public manner.

Vermin or Pets?

They started off as pets,
went out to a place in the desert
purchased a pair for $50 each,

two cages to keep them separated,
didn’t want them breeding on the way home,
still needed to get food and water dispensers

the cost for two rats was over $255.
Kids were excited, the pets were so nice, 
easy to hold, their little hands
looked so human, they each needed
a wheel in which to exercise.
The first night they scratched all night

thought they would eventually settle down
but those nocturnal creatures spent
their evening hours searching for a way out
and then one night they found it. By morning
they were gone. Did one release the other?

Now they roam through the rafters
of my home. I see their droppings
and other evidence that they have
enough food and water. The hose
on the washer is chewed, so are the cereal
boxes in the cabinet with trails of debris
leading back to the room with a hole in the wall.

The price to replace the hose is $35, sealing
the hole another $75, more cereal and grain

an outlay of $20 or more. My husband
wants to call an exterminator for $245
he says in the long run it will be cheaper

unless we catch those rats by night fall.

A Day At The Farm

Centennial Farm, Costa Mesa, CA

Lama mama

A half ton of bull

Just kidding around

Hay for babies and ewe

Lots of bacon

Busy as a bee

Honk, Honk Honk

     

A good day at the farm

            Pictures by Bill

Keeping Records in an Oral Tradition

Offspring are the key to keeping records
in a community that cannot read and write
it is the spoken word, passed down
through generations, keeping the life
of the community alive.

The story of the great hunt after a long winter
boney hunters barely able to stand
yet they find the buffalo again and again
enough to build tepees, drums and traditional robes,
still feeding the tribe until their bellies are full.

There is also the tale of the wily coyote
playing tricks on the rabbit and roadrunner
the group laughs at their antics

making daily troubles seem small.

Stories of dreams and vision quests
fill the evening hours by the campfire
rituals to the Great Spirit seeking blessings
like bountiful planting seasons, plenty of rain

and safety from all enemies. 

They sing and dance to the beat of the drums
with the sound of flutes piercing the air
filling the sky with their melodies.

Mothers tell children of temptations they must resist
and scaring them with tales of the boogeyman
keeping them obedient and by their side.

The stories are forgotten except by a few

community dissolves and almost disappears
until the elders start to remember 

and tell the stories from long ago, 

the tales of when they were strong 

and their ancestors filled the earth.

Mea Culpa

I’m sorry for the spilled milk
the rude words and careless lies,
sorry for the impatience and laziness. 

I’m sorry for hating you for as long as I did,
life could have been better had I sought
forgiveness in its place.

I’m sorry for not saying, “I love you,” 

as many times as I could,

for not lifting your burden, sharing your sorrow
for seeking my own comfort and interests instead.

I’m sorry for not being perfect
and if reincarnation exists, I can be better 

next time, but this life I only have my imperfect
self to give and a long list of mistakes

with, “Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa,”

for all of my missteps. 

Purgatory

Some souls need to purge

the last remnants of sin to be ready

for the pearly gates and streets of gold. 

They need a few more months
to eat more sugar, and stay up late,
drink another glass of wine, 

and make-out in back of the theater,
tell lies about where they’ve been,
laugh too loud, and dance until dawn.

Maybe those months will turn to years

not wanting to let go of the part of themselves
that makes them feel human. 

So for several years they will stay 
in Purgatory until they realize,
existence is too much to bear 

and desire for God

will make all sin disappear. 

Writing In Ink

Sister Devine said to use pen instead 

of pencil because it made you think
before you wrote a thought down.  

Created an accuracy when you knew
the mark was permanent and couldn’t be erased,
corrected or removed, much like original sin.

So like women in the religious orders
exacting consequences for minor offenses.
holding everyone they met to a higher standard
and making them suffer when they failed.

Oh bless you sweet sisters, for all the lessons
in frugality, temperance and sacrifice,
creating unnecessary suffering

punishing before any mistake was made.
Giving me perfect writing on linen paper,
with well scripted messages

in smooth tracks of blue ink,

carefully blotted, before it is folded,

stuffed in an envelope
and sent in the mail

now replaced with e-mail
wiping out all the hours of practice
of making things perfect in ink. 

Sunshine and Shadows

Sunshine peering through the front door
revealing golden dust particles in the air
shining patterns of light upon the wall
casting shadows on paintings in the room
glorious sunlight welcome home. 

Game of Chance

Some believe they tempt the devil
when they play games of chance.

Lady Luck is the mistress of evil
dressed in bright colors and fun
leading many to shame and ruin.

She reels her victims in with charm
offering favors to the unsuspecting
long after the game is done,

when she has a frim grip,
she promises happier days
with harmless entertainment
until she has their immortal soul.

Eventually everything is lost but

they stay because they remember

when she blessed them

and luck was coming their way. 

Thunder from Down Under

Six Australian musclemen
learned to make their way
by moving to the beat learning exotic steps to bump
and grind along the Vegas strip
hired to entertain the guests
in clubs along the lighted highway.

Somewhere in their collected past
are families and classmates
who remember them as little kids
normal in every way, so how did they take
this public turn, from ordinary to flamboyant?

Were they shy and easily bullied
used body building to intimate?

Learned to dance showing off 

on corner streets?

What brought these six men together? 

Was it an unpredictable economy

demanding something out of the ordinary?

Whatever the case, these men are living a dream
pulling in crowds internationally. 

An elderly couple found 

their way into the show,

while he was getting drinks, 

she was pulled on stage 

as part of the routine. 

He was outraged and ran
to rescue his beloved 

no matter the cost.

Such a contrast in male chivalry

several generations apart
one programmed to protect his woman
the other sees her as a moment of fun.

Dogs That Shed

Dogs that shed are common
leaving evidence of where they’ve been
across the floors, on furniture
and clothes and sometimes in your nose.

Some owners find it intolerable
keep the dogs outside refusing to get too close,
all seems reasonable, if you don’t want
fur on everything.

Most people invite pets inside, sweeping more

than usual to keep the house inhabitable, 
because the laughter and warmth
they offer is worth all the bother 

Humble Pope

After watching the elder pope retire
with lots of hoopla and ceremony
and then election of a new one

it’s nice to see a humble man
emerge from all the materialistic finery
more clearly conveying the message of Christ
amid gold and spectacle

drawing from a simple life
advocating a love of god

and love for each other.

Time will tell if his leadership 
infuses the church 

with the spirit once again. 

Cherries

Red sweetness in candied

cherries sitting atop deserts.
The perfect fruit with the pit
can be found growing wild

then brought home chocolate 
dipped placed in a box
sealed in cellophane. 

Blooms remind us spring is on the way, 
a perfect pleasure for little girls
an appealing medicine for winter colds. 

A splash of color
in a bowl of fruit, 
can stand alone
in crimson splendor, 

the cherry:
nature's tasty treat.

Earthquakes, Fog, and Comet Trails

Days slip by one by one

not much different from the next
markers, or colored post-it-notes
divide the days into weeks,
and weeks into months

Nature’s moments; earthquakes,
fog and comet trails all shuffled

into memory stores to help

separate significant incidents

some written in a diary
highlighted on a blog, makes easy reference
the day the earth shook, crashes in a fog,

a comet left a trail across the sky and I’m

here to tell the tale. 

Struck by Lightning

Heaven helps the fertile mind
full of ideas and wonderings

imagining stories and great inventions
but ideas by themselves are made of air

disappear unless they’re made concrete
they must be molded and shaped

a bolt of lightning isn’t enough
all great ideas evaporate

unless the dreamer can also create
by assembling those particles of light

into something great.

Addicted to Pain

Pain, like a barbed wire fence,
keeps me focused within.
The sharp jabs from the wire barbs
force me to a safer place of make-believe
meditating beyond the here and now
outside the body to an imaginary space
where all attachments on the physical
are cut free and I float above the earth
like ethers in the wind
sailing through the sky 
like a dandelion seed
blowing across the land
until I settle back into my living remains
to be reminded once again
that I dwell in a worn-out vessel
unable to function in real time
refusing relief yet seeking repentance
through transcendent dreams to take me
high above the clouds until I am finally
released and set free. 

Wedding Vows

Marriage is a collusion of families
with separate histories and memories
personality quirks and traditions

where couples try to blend together
hoping that their similarities enhance
a relationship and what is different
makes them stronger.

In my family we worshiped
at a Catholic altar,
believed in education
and helping in community.

Our favorite foods had chili and beans
and favorite past-times were physical
with a quick wits and quicker critics
friends were kept from the door out.

He, on the other hand,
was a Southern Baptist
something the family did once in awhile,
needing more community support
then they gave, bordering on poverty.


Alcohol was included in every gathering,
loud and obnoxious, daring anyone
to keep them out, uneducated and unrefined
friends and family mixed like one.

He was the odd one out in his family,
so different from the others, blue eyes, 
smart, spiritual, and refined. 

I too separated from my siblings
sought more mainstream behaviors,
while they wanted to be cool,
tossing aside our traditional training.

When we met, we knew we were meant

for each other, creating our own path

a little bit of his blended with mine.

The Curandera

Long before science emerged

and medicine became a discipline of its own 
immigrants, indigenous tribes and slaves
practiced similar beliefs 

healing with herbs having a deep understanding
of good and evil, learning to break spells and curses
with mixtures of natural ingredients and rituals,
calling on the Holy Spirit to cure body, mind, and soul. 

Satan,
like in the garden of Eden,
continues to tempt the innocent
offering a plethora of choices
with a buffet of vices

capable of infecting
a whole community 
who allow themselves
to transgress

encouraging each other
to wallow in sin, disrespecting 
their bodies and the land, 

seeking immortality 
tearing down the very fabric
of their spiritual being.

The Curandera, on the other hand,
used the bounty of the earth
to heal bodies and bring forth
goodness from the people

cutting off the head of the snake

and restoring love for God

demanding others follow her path

in humble obedience for all time.

Address Book

I bought a new address book
five years ago, didn’t have time
to rewrite all those names and numbers
but today when I sat down to complete
this simple task I noticed all the hours
I saved by waiting.

So many moved away

their addresses changed

tried to find the new ones

listed on a post-it-note or

scrap piece of paper

must have lost them along the way.

Others were divorced,
no longer a couple
now I have two addresses
instead of one.

The biggest change were people

who died in those years. There was

my Uncle Bud and Aunt Ellie, brothers,

Jimmy, John and Joe and more.

Too many losses in too few years

had to put away the address book
take a break and reflect

figured if I waited another five
there would be no need to continue

so I poured a cup of coffee,

and in the quiet of the morning

let the sun warm my bones
while I remembered the days
when my address book was full.
with all the family and friends I knew. 

The Curtain between Life and Death

Most of us live our lives with a curtain
between life and death established
like a brick wall,  

people can pass through
in one direction, angels make sure
to maintain the barrier.

Then someone you love dies,
if they linger for awhile, you actually
catch a glimpse of what is on the other side. 

My mother talked about 

a large room with many chairs

some were elaborate others very simple. 

The room was full of people she knew
when her grandfather reached out his hand
she knew it was time to go. 

They walked through a curtain 

of flimsy silk leaving it fluttering, 

with their ethereal breeze

and in that moment 

I caught a glimpse of the room 

with many chairs.

Memory of Home

In the red-tiled single storied house
of my adulthood, there was a step
down into the living room 

a brick fireplace against the north wall
with a display of masks collected
from around the world. 

One evening while a guest visited
from Manchester we talked

about many things.

The fire burned in the fireplace,
decorative candles were arranged
on the mantel to add lighting.

Our visitor, asked about the type

of wood we were burning.

I answered in was pine
purchased at the grocery store.

She sniffed and said she thought
it had a smell of cherry wood.

We went on with our conversation
again she paused and said the smell

of cherry had become stronger.

I looked outside to see if a neighbor
was also burning wood this evening.  

When I walked back into the room
I could smell the distinct aroma.

I noticed one of the masks was smoking,
a tattooed face with a large nose
ready to burst into flame.

I grabbed the mask and doused

it with water, she blew out the candle

and we laughed until we cried.

Magic Brew

Recipes from grandmother

handed down for generations
lavender tea for a belly ache, 

add spices like; cinnamon
eucalyptus, raspberry, fennel, 

mint, parsley, or celery seeds.

Sprinkle into a pot sitting on a fire
let it steam, gurgle, and boil over,
stir with a wooden mixing spoon

strain and drain then store in bottles
or ceramic containers with sterile lids
place in cool places until needed.

No written scripts to help recall
precise lists of ingredients
the only way to learn these brews

is with regular visits with grandmother.
“Use chaparral tea for respiratory problems,
kidney disorders, and irregular periods.

Mother Nature gives us
an abundant source of medicines;
roots and barks found in the woods,

herbs, weeds and toadstools growing wild
careful with each selection because 
one can heal and the other can kill."

Training for those chosen, takes place 
in the kitchen of my grandmother,
a woman, whose face reflects the fire

creating magic in a large black pot
chopping, stirring and mixing
long after the moon has risen.