I like to write poetry in the notes section of my phone when I feel a little inspiration. I wrote one on the plane out to California (yay! travel again!) and one while dining alone at a restaurant last night. I tacked a two day “alonecation” onto my friend’s 50th bday weekend and it has been delightful - moving at my own pace, seeing the sights, smelling the smells, reading, writing, and soaking up the California sunshine, fog, and views. I love it here. I rarely share my poems …but here goes.
PANDEMIC AWAKENINGS
A sudden shift
in how we experience our world
from home, home, home
hunkered down
staying safe
staying in
socially distanced
doing less
streaming too much
baking the bread (because we could)
digging deeper
going within
to
bigger
better(?)
more
remembering all the things
going to all the places
happened overnight
it seems
yet months and months in the making
the division
the science
the politics
the inequity
a year of looking all these things in the face
a year of looking within to determine what
we value
we need
we love
we want
making changes along the way to meet our new selves
nice to meet you, self
Waking up and knowing the world is still there
spinning, rotating, breathing, living, dying
and is now
within reach
what we have longed for is unfolding
the freedom
the joy
the travel
the change
the newness
sometimes still behind the mask
but more and more air to breathe each day
grateful
for science
grateful
for progress
what we have been through
is an evolution
we are all little green plants reaching for the sun
our roots firmly entrenched in the soil
but sprouting
bit by bit each day
our tendrils unfolding and preparing for sunlight and rain
and all the things
that we need to grow
And, from last night at dinner
THIS IS WHY I WILL NEVER BE SKINNY
Dinner with my Kindle
I love how a NAPA cab makes my mouth feel … furry
Big and then bigger.
Then that comfortable burn.
As I look around this restaurant I see a lot of.
Money
Whiteness
Except for that one beautiful black couple. Dressed to the nines. Lipstick of red. Fro pulled back into a tight puffy ponytail.
Coal fired arugula pizza.
Served with scissors. They should cut it for you at these prices.
Slices of conversation around me
Relapse?
Super soaker
Talk about Asia
40 with children
Bungalows and motherhood
Jane Fonda
Bits and pieces of words
I don’t want the check
I want dessert
Most women here say no to that
Their perfect Marin butts
Pilates twice today I’m sure
Those jeans just say no to dessert
But fresh peaches in CA?
Over olive oil cake
Sounds like health food
Just waiting to get in my belly
Olympic trials
Cream colored leather jacket
With a high pony tail.
Red shoes. Red purse
I want another glass of wine.
For the record, I only had one big beautiful glass of California Cabernet…. it was so delightful and that olive oil cake made me just too full for anything else. :)