Weaving the Blanket

At 5:52am there’s no time
to tell you
about the love lessons

now
is only a swirl of symbols
colliding and collecting
threads I’m still following

a basket full of pictures
of a hugging saint.
extraterrestrials and angels,
an oh-so-earthly
sculpted bicep
tattooed with a single rose.

I am touched
despite the plan.

My throat opens to hum
“How Come You Never Go There?”
how come I think I can
then can’t?
the insistent
persistence
to try.

heart-blossoming oils
rubbed into rough heels
shooting stars
– we both saw it –
pumpkin soup
1am

pages of words
not for here

these threads could be woven
to cover you
in a blanket of love
a most epic poem
crafted
to wrap you
in what’s real

if I could weave these symbols
masterfully
you’d know
by feeling
that haven
of your heart
your home

beaming and brimming
with joy
of remembering
what’s true
in you
and together
in that moment
writer and reader
we would be in love

where the saints say
we always are
we’ve just forgotten

so as I try to recall
and live
the vibrant
beating
pumping heart
of wild openness
and infinite curiosity
loving loving loving

don’t stop

I will keep practicing my craft
of weaving threads
someday
hoping
to touch that time
when I can truly tell you

courtesy of ingermaaike2

Earthquakes, Chili Peppers and Vinyl Records

Did you feel it?

That’s a section on the US Geological Survey website
(A Science for a Changing World)

I was feeling a lot of things
in my dream

listening to vinyl records
with the man who
professed his passion
for hot chili peppers

people all around us
were preparing for
impending disaster
tsunami maybe
but I was not well-versed

I was looking at his bookshelves
putting the needle on the record
might as well listen to a good tune
feel happy
when catastrophe strikes

there was that white knitted afghan
tilted shelving
an enormous brown couch
who was it we were listening to
when my bed began shaking?

I felt an earthquake
while I was dreaming
rocking me in waves
while I slept

In the morning
I jot the dream details
but my rattling bed
is doubtful
in reality
there are no earthquakes on my dormant island

to be sure
I search the USGS
maybe I felt distant fault lines trembling

documented there
2:59am
on the other end of my island chain
Hawaii had a 2.1 tremor
and so too, Japan
a 5.1
the Philipines
4.9

when you look to see the online list
it seems the whole world is rumbling!

courtesty USGS

“Did you feel it? Report an earthquake”
links
in cyberspace

I won’t report it
except for here
record players and chili peppers
earthquakes shaking my bed

dream science
a changing world
are we feeling it?

Wireless Reception

One hour a day
I dial in
to the broadest band

That’s how the poem began
as I walked damp wet sand
crafting words
that spun
in swirling mists
of salt
and streaming sunlight

out of range and loving it
my 60 minutes
of wireless reception

Jessica Dofflemyer

 

but then…
nature time’s up
back at the car
I’m recording phrases
in my iPhone
trying to remember
the communication
I received
seaside

There are phone calls to return
appointments to keep
I plug in
and realize
my gift of words
are somewhere
wild
unkept
in the ether

I grasp air
dig deep in heart
give it a rest
knowing
there’s only so much time
what’s real surfaces

Hey
I got poetry
and the hiss of mushy ocean waves this morning

it’s OK if it’s not posted here
in fact
I encourage you, my friend
go out
and listen
find your own
then share it