invisibly, i eat strawberries and cheese.

music beating round and round
dancers spin and squiggle
spinal sinusoidal waves
and hip vibrations

music beating
i sit on the couch
between
shy stranger slumping
and
resting friend with a bellyache.
the laughing couple loses balance
while lapping at each other's necks

music beating and beating
in my stomach
in my ears
in my heart, my throat, my feet, my head
their bodies, my head,
their bodies, my heart beating and beating

invisibly,
i eat strawberries and cheese
wondering...
doesn't everyone look beautiful?

~February 2009

Fall like the tide

I want to fall like the tide
Slowly… then wildly rush
The waxing moon sucks my toes from the marsh
Our brackish hearts braiding
The river and sea
The mud streaks your back
The salt sticks to me

Waters flow in, fill my belly, and then
Waters invert and flow out again
The ripples collide
The ripples collide
And so begins the ebbing tide

the wood bee

i was glad to see the drowsy day die
all the insects quit humming all the time
lay on the bed by the open window
i wanted to fall in love unabashed, easy, and slow
i wanted to love like i love the scent of tomato stems
i wanted to love like i love the way the sweetgum sapling bends
under the weight of the late afternoon rain
i let the breeze stroke my belly through the screen
while I humid lay and wondered about men
i wondered if i could love again and again.
could i love without feeling all hemmed in?
and where in hell has my heart been
all this ripe time?
another easy summer by the by
i was so glad to see the drowsy day die.

i wanted to be the tomato vines
i wanted to be the longleaf pines
the bobwhite called to me and the crow called him names
but, i think, it was the wood bee that i became
burrowed down in the porch's beams
hovering around, getting in the way of the door screen.

Conversations with kids.... Viana, age 7, conversation #2

Viana: (carrying her stuffed blue jay, grabbing for the tape) I have to fix my blue jay. I was giving him a haircut, and by mistake cut a hole in his head.

Katie: Wow, I’m never letting you give me a haircut.

(Viana grins)

Viana: (Taping stuffed blue jay’s head) Brendan and I used to cut all my dolls’ hair short.

Katie: (cleaning dishes) Mmmm…

Viana: (continuing) We used to cut it all off and then cut off their arms and their legs.

Katie: (cleaning dishes) Mmmmhmmm.

Julia: Um.

Viana: Then, sometimes we’d cut them in half.

(Awkward pause.)

Julia: Wow, um… that’s really weird.

Viana: I don't really like dolls. I don't even play with Barbies at all.

Conversations with kids.... Viana, age 7

Viana (who’s 7) was playing with her stuffed baby harp seal at the breakfast table Wednesday morning.

(Viana places the seal in front of Julia’s plate)

Julia: Hello, Seal.

(Viana places the seal in front of Katie’s bowl)

Katie: Hello, Seal.

Viana: (examining seal critically) He looks kind of sad…

Julia: Maybe he’s concentrating.

(Katie, after looking at the big moony eyes of the stuffed seal, begins laughing uncontrollably.)

Julia: What?

Katie: (between peals of laughter) Concentrating??!

Conversations with kids... Hazel, age 10

It was summertime. Hazel walked by with her pet ferret, Smoky, on a leash. Smoky was wet and shivering. Hazel had on a bathing suit.

Katie: “Hi, Hazel. Did you go swimming?”

Hazel: “Yep.”

Katie: “Awww, look at Smoky. He’s so cute... How’d he get wet?”

Hazel: (Picking up shivering wet-as-a-rat ferret) “Well, he was sniffing all curious around the water. So, I let him try it. He’s a pretty good swimmer.”

Katie: “I BET. When you get home, you should wrap him in a nice, warm blanket. He’ll like that.”

Hazel: “Okay. Bye.”

Conversations with kids.... Fisher, age 6

Fisher is 6. I work with his dad, who is a herpetologist. Fisher's a friendly towheaded kid who is great at catching frogs and salamanders.

Katie: “Hey, Fisher.”
Fisher: “Hey…. Were you the one snorkeling around in the pond today?”
Katie: “Yep.”
Fisher: “Did you see anything cool?”
Katie: “Not really. It was actually kind of boring. But, I saw lots of newts and bullfrog tadpoles.”
Fisher: “Hey, have you ever seen a hellbender?”
Katie: “Yeah.”
Fisher: “How big was it?”
Katie: (holding hands about a foot wide) “About this big.”
Fisher: “There are bigger salamanders in China.”
Katie: “I know.”
Fisher: “Sometimes people eat them.” Pause. “Do salamanders ever eat people?”
Katie: “Yeah, sometimes. When they’re really hungry, newts will nibble on your toes.”
Fisher: “And tiger salamanders?”
Katie: “They’re called that because they’re the most vicious. (Nodding convincingly) Ask your dad.”

spring haikus-- beautiful, useless, why, warm

twisting the dogbane

under the red cedar tree

...useless four inch rope.

barbed wire fence grown through

the beech tree reaches rusty 

scratchy historic why.

blue eyes, kind question, 

lavender, exciting thrill 

don't know heart skip why 

daffodils and rain 

outside tapping the window 

fingers intertwine.

light through lace curtains

cat on the edge of bed curled

so much warmth here world.

old wood, faded paint

heart wonder ordinary

rare and so pretty