Freshman

You didn't come see me
 You texted you would
   You did text me happy birthday
     and I did get a love you in there somewhere

But that's not love
What that is is gone

I figure it's me
I am overbearing
I know it
It's better to be natural
And your natural inclination is

and mine is

I live next to an ocean
 there's sand
 memories of
 smiles
   miles
    laughter
     tears and
years and years and years
of beautiful moments

Nourished
abundant
powerful
shining
joyous
playful
as you know I am

Don't think I don't know you
 nor that I think that you don't know me

waiting

You can find me in the morning
 near the ocean
  at 40th Street
    or on my way there or back
   for now

You can knock on my door
  anytime
   if it's you
When it's you

I don't want to come back down to earth

I'm trying to get out of here in one piece
and it is special to jump in the water in December
because the water is cold
and not many people do it on cold windy days
so it takes some warming up to
like pacing and running and sprinting back and forth
times enough for a mind to wrap itself around the idea of plunging into frigid water
for the experience of it
for the exhilaration
for getting off the earth for a bit
appreciate the clouds and sky and light
and day dream

It's okay you didn't come to see me

could be the title of a song
I promised you'd forget me
you said that I was wrong

It's okay you didn't come to see me
 you didn't call
   you maybe thought of texting
    you maybe didn't think at all
I wonder if you have my email
I'll wonder if you'll know my name
now for sure
but later who knows
I promised you'd forget me

What I'm Eating

So that you might have some guidance
  since you've asked
   about what you might cook
     I think is the word you used
      though prepare
        is a better choice
          in my case

What I'm eating
  is easier described as
    what I'm not eating
  which is along the way towards
    what I won't eat
 or at least
    what I don't want to eat

I'm not eating anything processed
  period
    in italics
     because that's not entirely true
       but will be
         as soon as I give up the bread wrap part
           of Jason's Deli's Spinach Veggie Wrap
    but it's true enough
      or will be
        as soon as I give up mustard
           and Bragg's Amino Acids
        in which case
           it may never be true

I'm not eating any heated vegetable oils
   period
    and that is true
      but for those rare times when I succumb to French Fries
        which is true
          for I have succumbed to French Fries for the last time
            until the next time
        Coconut oil works very well
            it is very special
              it does not spoil from heat
                 for as long as you need it not to       

If it's hot
  there should be a good reason
  if it was hot for hours
   like it was baked in an oven
    I don't think there's ever a good reason for that
      there's lots of yummy things
       yummy all on their own
   I tend to stay away from formerly hot
      yummy concoctions
       because they are addictive
        and inevitably
          eventually
            they bring me down
   I tend to stay away from what I'm not eating
       because it brings me down
  
      
Not a single rhyme
 what a lousy poem
   


          
          

The Plant My Sister Gave Me

The plant my sister gave me
 I move from here to there
  It hasn't always been this way

I do not know her name even
  for years and years she sat next to the sink
   getting dusty
    in rotten water
     her leaves crying and dying
      some of them
       some of the time

And sometimes she was fine
   most times
After years and years I started talking to her
 in my mind

Sylvia had washed her rocks
  changed her water
    trimmed her
     loved her I guess
      that must have helped

Beverly did the same
  washing her leafs
    now so do I
     and have put her out to the summer showers
      for all I remember about her
       is she does not like direct sun

So there she was next to the sink
 

Seattle

I'm going to sweep up round here
   leave
     fly a box across the country
      and unpack it in Seattle

I need a wood floor for sleep
  a rug for devotions
    a cup to drink from
       a plate for eat

I need a sky to breathe with
     a sun for gazing
       real earth to stand on
         and children to play with

I need a woman to love me
  my cup runs over
What a wealthy man I've been
  The sun sets over the ocean in Seattle
Everything else a crying shame 

Guts

Guts
 are all in the news

It becomes clear
As we are children of the plants
We share some process pathways

Simply put
 some chemicals don't belong in food.

Arguing about that
 can go on forever

 What to eat
   when to eat
     how to eat
 familiar questions, yes?
 Which is meaning?
  Why
 Which do you know least about?
 Which do you think is most important?

Arguing about this, too
  can go on forever

Yesterday
  I sinned against my mind and body
  And at my age
  I had tablespoons of that what ever Jason's Deli calls icecream
     And that night I boiled an ear of corn
        Later, at 4:30am wakened by indigestion
          I suffered horribly

The guts and the brains
  The story of these two
    and more