stained

Should we go upstairs?
the lovebirds leave
and I am left to my lonesome
in the room they no longer inhabit.
Who wants to be the unloved?
I brush it aside and swing open the back door
to sit on the step
which always oblidges.

We have one hodgepodge of a backyard
but I would still argue that it is a piece of nature
Ulmus Carpinifolia, our stately elm, sets the backdrop
as it changes with the seasons.

In winter, its leathery, textured bark is streaked white.
With the spring comes black rounded buds
which unfold into piano leaves by May.
These leaves play their music in the wind until November
when they slowly exhaust their tune to fall to the earth below.
Our yard is stained yellow brown and gold, if only for a season.

What is

What is nature, really?
What does it mean to escape to it?
The human being is confined in many ways.
Within
buildings
cars
airplanes
classrooms
we are categorized by
fields of study
ethnicity
birthplace
and philosophy
So many factors seek not merely to confine
but define us
At the end of the day,
What defines me?
Is it the clothing I wear?
the food I eat?
The people I interact with?
Or ultimately,
the things I say and do
the attitude I have?

A wise man once said,
"perspective is everything.
You can look at things as predicaments
or opportunities."

Getting back to my first question-
I think the answer is that nature is
the biggest opportunity of all.
but at the same time,
it is the largest predicament to those
without vision
It takes great stewardship to see how
our interaction with nature will ultimately
draw us out of the confines we have created
and into the beauty of things.

Whoosh

Thurp! Plop! Whoosh....
One CONTINUOUS stream
of water falling
sound, movement, light
without end

It is as if the rocks were bleeding
A giant god has squeezed them like cheese
and now the juices flow

Ripples meet one another
as the waterfall strikes
the stillness below

They permeate the surface of the pond,
giving it life
only as the circles meet the rocks
do they abruptly end

On My Shoulders

The Sun is on my shoulders
it asks to soothe me
to offer comfort

I do not turn to it in reply
but continue sitting with my back towards its light,
Basking

If I do not answer the sun,
will it continue to shine?
For how long will it give light and warmth
whilst I ignore its presence?

What type of recognition does it desire?
Should I bow before it?
Offer songs of praise?
Or does this great ball of fire merely
long to be my acquaintance?

How would we communicate
at such a great
distance?!

I have no light to reflect
in return for the sun's generosity
perhaps our relationship meant to be
one sided

Rays travel millions of miles
to caress my shoulders
their heat sinks into my skin
and I offer thanks to their source.

Patience

Have you any patience?
For I know a task that will surely do the trick.
Grow a tomato.
Not the type you buy ripe at Vons,
or the 3' plant from Home Depot.
Grow a tomato from seed.
It takes all the patience in the world
to wait fro the tiny seedlings to emerge and then
pick the stoutest to transplant
into the earth.
Then you must water is generously
at least twice a week until yellow blossoms appear
at the tips of the green
weeks later, little pea like tomatoes develop in the shriveled blooms.
They grow steadily until you begin to imagine they've turned red.
But not until the month of July are they ready,
nearly three months after you'd sown the seed.
The whole length of June, I am daily examining their hue.
Yes, to grow a tomato takes a world of patience.

flying

Kites.
Flying.
Soaring.
Reaching beyond
where anyone would believe they could.
They fill the sky like birds of flight,
each unique in shape and shade.
Some stand still as others sway back and forth
or swoop down to the eaerth and back to the heavens.

May 4th Square is delightful to behold.
Thousands of people stand and watch the kites soar
or take photos of the red sculpture at it's core.
Granite walkways weave through sycamores and fields of open lawn.
To experience this place is to experience culture, art, and life.
To have designed it is to have
created
a masterpiece.

on the bus

on the bus ride back to HD our driver is having a hayday!
Honking his horn as he passes those who switch lanes. It's beggining to unnerve me. All along the sides of the highway are cottonwood trees, rice fields, and terraced plantings. It is green as far as the eye can see. The world looks so different outside our yellow curtained windows.

I can see red tiled homes with clay walls and small towns surrounded by brick walls. If only our experience was not limited to the distance of our sight!

I breathe deep

Every bone within my body says
relax
take a breath
today is today
amidst papers and midterms
my mind doesn't seem to understand
it wants to continue to run
at a pace
I can't follow

Relax
says the wind
Relax
say the trees
you are only one small part of it all

I breathe deep
and relax