We see the sea serenly as we wander

Writing and Reading Vacation Spaces

There is an argument (structurally a spat) in the backseat of the rental car whose vacuum contains us. A whirr of complaint scrapes accross the chapparel of rolling golden weed hills and zen posed oak. Seams of cliff and fog and sea thicken and quit our concerning. Quiet
dotes momentarily over the swell of our familying.

"It was these secondary levels of life, these extrasensory flashes and floating nuances of being, these pockets of rapport forming unexpectedly, that made me believe we were a magic act, adults and children together, sharing unaccountable things."
--- Don DeLillo, WHITE NOISE

I am happy. Finding these people here, with me, togethered, invites me to seek them out more -- often and thoroughly.

Respite from Heat & Suburban Doledrums

Vacation Elation

Anticipate Cage Wreck Aesthetics

 
a bird is a bird with wings
eating mangoes or seed pods
peck peck peck
eating bark eating wind
indiscriminate birds
 
bird circumstance spreads 
fancy winged and beak specific
is puffing a chesty brag
intricately plumaged for distracting
preens to be remarked upon

aloof bird
all bird business 
about bird nous
about birdness
resolute on bird ability

the birds are running late
again seemingly
peckish for dinner parties
real like a talon pillow
or a squawking procedure
 
a bird is skeptical for sounds
boneless sky hoarder
considering and unafraid
to peck my eyes out
while hidden among the flock
​
the bird is a wreck of graceful
nervousy beak stabber
furious flaunter of apparent physics
homicide for a worm or field mouse
often falling nearby with swoop
 
 

Photo-memoir: My Experience of Thinking about the BP Gulf Oil Spill

Pose Elephantine Frequently

after dinner, reclining 
is never an option for elephants trooping

gravity-yanked forever heavy 
and heaving

that snout is always collecting
that noodle appendage whisks earnest
calculates frequent for availabilities
 
when elephants talk about their problems
cumbersome
sheathes every conversation
​
worries abound about stopping
on a dime or estimating shade proximity
 
elephant rides are about metal prodding hide,
narrowly avoiding ramps,
fingernails and boot heels
 
some elephants in children's books
wear smoking jackets
take drives through the country
stand dapper gazing in mirrors
self-reflecting sincerely

that chest puffer admires massively
stoops to pucker the full range of it’s droop
 
an elephant is a baby elephant
at the beginning
water squirting playful and animated
trunk gestures and glee seeming
 
the elephants conspire occasionally
in the forest below night and broad leaves
​back scratching to tree topple
​argue about methods for poacher abolition
eager for parades
crossing vacant grassy savannah
 
proboscus centered even in repose
 
 

Battle on the Pitch

Waiting for a turn to talk

Independence

My children strike out
Against me daily

We are collaborators
In their volition

Though it is a secret
I hold tight

Their increasing independence
Is dependent on my giving them
A frame to celebrate
Freedom from.

Brazil loss to Netherlands produces melancholy in 10-year old US boy

Squirrel Lessons

meet friends precariously
neck bob and finger twitch
precisely and anxious for hoarding

that sock puppet on a tree limb eyeing
anthropomorphic concerns sincerely fidgets a shudder balance

squirrel meat is too tough
even for squirrels
those tails poof and arc
fluff banter conspiring

ribald chase scenes
seem dance defying

mock expectations about gravity
flaunt prescient food attitudes

take daily vacations
nap with a swagger

eat more nuts or rest eagerly
avoid large groups