What is this lump
In my belly
A small nag
An irritation
Why does it feel off
When you talk
Like a bad recipe
I'm trying to eat
To be polite
Is it me
Or does this taste funny?
Like moldy cheese
Or a cake with too much salt.
Oh
You're full of shit
Such a telling phrase
Did I get some on my shoe?
I smell it
Is it coming out of your mouth?
Excuse me
Did you know
That when you opened your mouth
A big piece fell out?
There is is again.
Now it's on my shoe
I think i'll go home
And clean it off.
Restless sleep filled with dreams I can't remember
Time rushes by like a businessman downtown
Unaware of my need for connection, direction
Never looking up from his phone while he takes long, deliberate strides across the street.
I wonder where you're going, Mr Time.
Don't stop for no one, not even me.
Can it be? Year 53?
Restless sleep interrupted. Dreamt I was flying, then I was falling, a baby dying, my mother callin.
Mr.Time, take your time. I need more time, slow time, no time.
For quietness
And listening, so I can hear the voice within.
Mr.Time, you seem to slow, put down your phone and take some notice.
I feel my direction, my connection and you see me,
I feel you see me
And time is now my friend that has no end.
No time.
Come to me, young ones.
Bring me your fears and your suffering.
You cannot see the horizon from the ground and there are mountains of experience that obscure your view.
But I can see.
Fly with me
With the wings of your soul
And I will show you the wisdom of the winds,
The purpose of the tides
And the reason for death and for living.
Do not be afraid to fly.
Spread your wings and follow me,
Join the Raven Clan and together we will find the Truth.
Together in the great, living sky.
We will fly.
Unafraid.
Together.
Thanks to all who came to stand with us in San Francisco for real American values of love, inclusion and social justice.
What made me think
About your name
To look you up
And find out you were gone?
We shared a secret love
Of memories held deep
Tears offered by candle light
Open hearted
In a warm room
while winter fell
Outside.
We stayed warm and naked
In that quilted bed
Hiding from the world
Clinging to the hope
That we would never
Have to leave
Like an addict hopes
The high will never end.
But the day came
To open the door
and when I stepped outside
It was over
The candle had burned down
And the room grew cold.
We stayed connected
For a long time.
You never used that brilliant mind
Not really
You never grew into the man
You were afraid to be.
You died instead
At 52.
Bless the soul of Tim Emswiler, one of the smartest most sensitive people I ever knew. You were a loyal friend. May you do in the next life, what went undone in this.
My friend
Family of choice
Sister of my heart
Companion of my soul
30 years.
You know me,
That is good, but more than that
You grow me
Like mulch around a tree.
You help me hold life's water and satiate my thirst
For being seen.
You were there
When he lied to me
We made lasagna
For New Years
and the winter windows were wet from happy people laughing at our party.
You were at my wedding
And the baptism of my first child.
We grow wrinkles together
And drink tea.
Years pass between cups that feel like days.
I love days with my friend, the sister of my heart.
May we have many days
Before we are through with this life,
Before we are done growing,
Before we drink our final cup.
Women rise
From your comfortable beds
From your bleached blond heads
From your he said, she said.
Women rise
We need to hear your voice
We need to make some noise
So we can have some choice
For the future
Women rise
Don't try to be a man
We need a feminine plan
You know together we can
Change the future.
Women rise
It's time to take a stand
Hand in hand
To save our land
From the greed of man
Save the future.
Women rise
To our God's we pray
For strength and courage today
To have strong words to say
Speak truth to power or pay
With our future
Women Rise
The time is here
To leave the ocean of tears
And outgrow our fears
Of a thousand years
Make the future
Women Rise
Sing the songs of love
Praise the Lord above
Descending like a dove
On the future
Women rise
in equality
It's up to you and me
We can't sit quietly
Don't leave our destiny
Build the future
Women rise
Save the future
Unprepared I listen
Open like a mug waiting for a warm drink
To fill it up
But when the words come
they are shards of ice
Not English breakfast tea.
They cut me before I realized
That I should flip my mug
Like a wine glass turned over, to be pulled from the linen tablecloth by a waiter with a bow tie.
None for me tonight.
Thank you.
But I was unprepared for your hatred
splattered like gang graffiti on some poor grocer's window.
Defacing the glass with illegible letters meaning nothing to anyone
but the bitter and hateful
Like you.
My own unhappiness
Like a raven
calling
from the skeleton
of a cold
winter tree.
I hear it cawing,
Harsh, repeating
a black spot sitting
on the branches
of my heart.
The edge is always there.
An abyss we will all fall into
Or leap
Or step with silent intention
One day.
If I look over into the chasm of the great unknown
Everyday
Curiosite replaces fear
And I can listen with my body
To the wisdim of Death.
The Grim Reaper
Becomes
The Angel of Death.
And when I jump or fall or step with my intention
She catches me
Like a child tossed in the air
And hugs my soul
Home.