I have been wanting to write about bamboo. Instead I find myself thinking about box turtles. Yesterday I came upon one on the path, dull-colored, it's shell broken in one place, a scale fallen away and lost like a stray roof tile, a scuffed substrate beneath and I wondered how many more lay beneath that … Continue reading Box Turtles
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 19 1. The snake is almost liquid now, merging with the earth, sunken and rank. 2. It had pulled itself into an infinity loop, looped twice, tucked its head under one of the inner curves of its body, and stopped living. I touched it, wanting it to untwine and disappear. The snake's body was … Continue reading Convergence – #23
August 14 1. What is it that I was thinking just now? Was it something about my village and the house where I used to live when I lived there? I was just there again after so many years. Things had changed. I didn't want them to have changed. It all looked dusty to me, … Continue reading Terrains of the Body – #22
July 19 1. I got salt in the mail from you. It reminded me of King Lear and his misunderstanding of his daughter's assertion. So I felt loved, though that was a misunderstanding of your intention. The salt was from Bali. I don't know if it was from the north coast or not but I … Continue reading Love Notes – #20
July 17 1. His photographs showed the perimeter of the ceiling of a cheap hotel room. There was something beautiful about them, uncluttered, quiet, almost still (but the gaze shifts). I asked him what was the point of view he was asking the viewer to occupy in order to engage in the investigation of a … Continue reading Ceiling – #19
July 12 *Cempaka (Chempahkah) are tiny, white, South and southeast Asian Magnolia flowers that have an extraordinary perfume. Men climb the big trees to pick them in the early morning when the flowers are soft and closed. This is the desirable form. When they open, their petals stiffen and curve up and back. 1. The … Continue reading Cempaka – #18
July 11 1. I lost the ring, that Julian made for me, in the yard after taking a bath. 2. I carried my jewelry with me from the bath house and set it all on the table. 3. I put my leather collar on (always first), earrings, necklace, rings, but was missing the one for … Continue reading Orang halus – the subtle people and the ring – #17
Tiny Events 