Doom and Bloom

And we wake up 

to a new day,

the world crumbling around us.

We try to put the pieces together,

nothing makes sense-

or fits-

and yet everything

is, in a word-

Beautiful.

In such a way

the dappled sunlight,

a certain bird

lands,

a note to self

Becomes a warm smile. 

It has been a while.

Painting by Annie Pressland c. early 20th century Still life with red flowers and bowl' in Public domain.Annie Louisa Pressland (1862-1933), was a painter who studied at the Slade School of Fine Art, and exhibited between 1892 and 1923 at the Society of Women Artists, the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, the Baillie Gallery and London Salon, Birmingham, The Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, and Manchester City Art Gallery. A theme of her work, under commissions, was private gardens. She designed posters for the Underground Group in 1913, which are held in the collection of the London Transport Museum. Professionally she was referred to as 'Miss Pressland'. Born on 2 July 1862 at Brighton, she died on 23 March 1933 at East Grinstead. via Wikimedia Commons.

Plywood windows

If I could wear soft and loose clothes
every day
                and be taken seriously,
forgetting for a moment
that comfort is for lesser creatures,
I would be less ill
                              at ease
and more sensitive to
zippers and seams.

I lost a drinking habit years ago
and found every thing
                                    sharper with age,
which does not clot the
bleeding, or numb the
site                     I remember I last had it
with me,
my cups are bone dry since this thirst
has all
but evaporated
making the air thicker around me.

If I found a diamond encased
in every silver lining,
                  carbon acting under the pressure
                  of those that have convinced me
                  to forgive
                  in these conditions
                  with sparkles on top,
I would have tasted love
                  on the rocks,
and choked on the hardest facets.

Time is our only personal property.

In-kind, community property
has foreclosed upon the pearl gates.
These lips have been boarded up
to deter any passer by's
                                       from dwelling.

It may not be safe
to live this way
without proper uniforms,
window dressings
and with naked wrists,
lacking a steady leg to pivot upon       
                             in order to see things
as they are
and find slighted contentment
enough of a shelter and shield
from monsoons and bad moons rising
every weak day.




Photo credit: Carol M. Highsmith, Kinney County, Texas. 2014 [Public domain].