You must have come down the chimney when Iwasn't listening. But the cat heard you.The fireplace grates were knocked over and things from the mantel were on the floor. What does it feel like to visit me as a bird,in the presence of a cat, with no voiceto explain - it's me? Like Acteon, pursuedby … Continue reading Starling Ghost
I wish I had thought of it before now – a year of elegies, one for every month since you died until we get to July. Perhaps July gets 2? But I didn’t think of it until just now. And I hadn’t thought about elegies at all until Lana sent one about Bluebells and you … Continue reading January Elegy #1
I gave you my back as he gave me his: I wanted to be held without holding. I wanted to be touched without touching. I wanted to be kissed without kissing, to be bitten, to be clenched, and pressed. And you did. You bumped your head against me. Like a cat, you pointed out. And … Continue reading Spoon
September 15 1. I was vaguely reading all of the signs in the car - because words are like that, demanding to be read, sometimes begging, sometimes pleading - when I saw the message that surprised me with its unexpected positive directive adjacent to the negative one: Do Hold Each Other/Do Not Lean On The … Continue reading Remembering Summer on the 1 – #26
August 29 2. When I told you I was pregnant, you told me to come back to get married. I had sent a letter. Your brother in law still has it. I guess I would keep such a thing too. So he and Suartini still remember how I described Julian, then a tight, nameless bundle … Continue reading Marriage (Incomplete) – #25
August 28 1. I felt an electric shock in my left palm at the base of my thumb. 2. I dropped the phone. There was a yellow jacket underneath, huddled, dying. I had poisoned it. It poisoned me back. 3. If I were (like) my father, or you, would I have died then, in my … Continue reading Sting – #24
July 9 1. I put away the black pepper; I can't remember what part of the body is its correlative - freckles? Moles on the skin? 2. When the priest's wife died, she willed herself to depart on the full moon, an auspicious day, appropriate for a holy woman. The full moon is when the … Continue reading Body of Spice – #16
July 8 1. The counter is too high in this kitchen for me to straighten my arm and use my weight to crush the ingredients of my spice paste (bumbu). I can't put my mortar on the floor because there is no door on the kitchen and the puppies will come in. 2. When I … Continue reading Spice – #15
June 27 I started out thinking about language, about how sentences can be structured differently to describe the same event. I was interested in that. And while I'm still interested in that, it's not where I want to focus my attention now, though I'm just a short distance into this project. I'm confident this is … Continue reading Tiny Events & the Palace of Memories
June 26 1. It's good to walk on quiet roads. I found a black raspberry bush (2) and foraged 3 berries - 2 unripe. 2. I found a black raspberry bush. The last one before this one was in Spain 3. I picked black raspberries once in New Hampshire and remembering them makes me think, … Continue reading Black Raspberry – #12
Tiny Events 