Dream you are in a garden.
Close your eyes and feel the sun tickle sweat from the back of your neck.
Open your mouth and gather the raindrops into your body.
Dig your toes into the soft soil and breathe in its sweetness.
Hear the thrumming of life sing to the beat of your heart.
Dream you are a garden.
#225
Paring down is easy
at first.
Ditching the stuff you never use.
A shrug and a toss
into the give-away box,
the recycle bin,
the trash bag.
But then you come down to it,
the stuff that has a hook in your soul.
Stuff you keep because
someone gave it to you (the lamp),
it reminds you of a good time (the ticket stub),
you really are going to learn
(insert sport, craft, or language here) one day.
Perhaps the first step is to decide
what is important in your life,
what brings joy,
comfort,
fulfillment,
laughter,
wellness,
and just pare away everything that doesn’t.
Like the excess clay from a sculpture of yourself.
Yourself the way you were before the hooks
turned your soul into a pincushion.
#224
Finish what you start.
Unless it’s wonderful, then
drag your feet through joy.
#223
Sunrise through curtains
Backlit jacquard flowers bloom.
My winter garden.
#222
We bought a bed, a wonderful bed.
A bed with shelves, cubby holes, and drawers.
We bought a bed that will replace
night stands and dressers. Who could want more?
Of course this bed, this wonderful bed,
is in the back of the truck, closely resembling
three big boxes, heavy and long.
Did I mention there will be some assembling?
Yes, we bought a bed, a wonderful bed
but we may have to work all night on it
before we`re able to say to each other
“You made your bed, now lie on it.”
#221
When your feet hurt
the road feels harder
When your feet hurt
you stay in your yard
When your feet hurt
Everything feels worse
Yes, everything feels worse when your feet hurt
When your dogs bark
every step is painful
When your dogs bark
please don’t be disdainful
When your dogs bark
Everything feels worse
Yes, everything feels worse when your feet hurt
When your toes smart
steps are all too high
When your toes smart
snails pass you by
When your toes smart
Everything feels worse
Yes, everything feels worse when your feet hurt
I’m sitting here because I got sore paws
Well it’s really hard to move with aching hooves
Yes, everything feels worse
Everything feels worse when your feet hurt
(Don’t be a heel, just rub my tootsies…)
#220
(yep, I’m thinking this one might end up as a song too…probably blues. lol)
Square and triangular
snippets of cloth,
may fortune protect you
from tea stains and moths.
The shapes that you tumble
all over my bed
make me think of the stars
that shine overhead.
Sometimes I see arrows
that point to the rims
of long, folded mountains
that form over limbs.
Sometimes I see houses
all scattered around,
(although not quite enough
to declare it a town.)
Sometimes four petalled flowers
appear and then fade,
like violets that wink from
their homes in the shade.
Pretty snippets of cloth,
triangles and squares,
I just know I sleep better
whenever you’re there.
#219
(‘lunky’ is what our youngest used to call blankets)
Last night I had a dream that a rapture had occurred
and all the Gods and Deities had swooped down on the world.
They called their loyal followers and took them all away
but Mother Earth said ‘Hold on. I’ve got something to say.”
“What about the evil ones? You’ve gotta take them too.
Send them all to Hell ‘cause the Devil must have his due.”
So with saints and sinners nestled in their eternal homes
the ones the Earth held on to didn’t wail and didn’t moan.
Mother Earth had chosen all the ones who loved her best
She said ‘Hang on, little children, it’s time to clean this mess.
And with a shake she scattered the pollution from her skin;
the filth and the corruption went flying in the wind.
She said “I know you’re capable of doing these things right.
so please keep our home tidy, and for goodness sake don’t fight.
Because if there’s a next time I won’t clean things up for you.
So don’t make me come back there – whatever you do!’
Don’t want to go to Heaven on wings or to Hell on skids.
I just want a world that’s clean that I can leave my kids.
#216
I need no hearts of paper
fringed in doily lace.
I need no red and pink bouquets
dying in a crystal vase.
I need no gooey chocolates
(well, no more than I ever do)
I only need you. I only need you.
And I love that you need me too.
#215
Sometimes I paint what I see.
Sometimes I paint what I feel.
Sometimes I paint figments that grow in my mind.
Sometimes I paint figs that are real.
When flowers begin to spawn dragons,
and dragon ships sail upside down,
when trees have eyes and snails sprout wings
You know that I’ve finally found
that niche in my psyche that whispers
of worlds on different planes,
and tells me to capture them quickly
or they’ll never be seen again.
Yes, sometimes I paint what is
and sometimes I paint what could be.
Sometimes I paint the world.
Sometimes the world paints me.
#213
Linda Studley 