tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12906358520783123932023-11-15T09:55:52.020-08:00WALKING DISTANCEDanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.comBlogger109125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-60774620513932979252016-07-18T03:14:00.000-07:002016-07-18T03:14:13.948-07:00MARGOT<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In January I adopted a cat from Fort Collins Cat Rescue</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Previously I had had a cat: Princess, a beautiful calico I had adopted from a friend. When Princess came to me, she waseight years old. She lived to be 13. I lost her to leukemia in 2010. Since then I had been caring for my sister's cat until I relocated from California to Colorado.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">For a year and a half I had thought about getting a new cat, but in January I took the plunge.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Fort Collins Cat Rescue said they had one calico, but she (Margot) was at a different location.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">With the help of a friend, I went to the new location and met Margot, a two-year-old calico who had been found on the streets of Loveland. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Margot is a loving feline. Over the last seven months I've found that she loves just about anyone she comes across. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">After a couple months, and a few escapes on her part, I relented and let Margot go outside at will. She always returned for food and water, so I didn't worry about her.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Then, about May, she didn't come home. She seemed to prefer being outside. I discovered that she wandered through my apartment complex. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She sunned herself on different walkways. She napped on different stairways or door matts. But she didn't return home except for brief periods.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Yesterday I went to a common area near the mailboxes. I started talking to a couple neighbors: they both knew Margot, but had thought she was a stray. Margot appeared, and let all of us pet her, rub her tummy.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">That was about 5:00 P.M.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">About 7:30 I got a call from the CSU Vet School. Someone had found Margot and brought her to their Urgent Care. (I hadn't known she'd been chipped before I adopted her.)</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I had to make a couple calls before I found a neighbor willing to take me to the vet school to get her.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I was told by the vet school staff that it is illegal for cats to be outdoors. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">What?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">As I write, Margot is curled up on my futon. She slept with me today, purring all night.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Now, what do I do about her desire to be outside? It's bound to continue, at least until the first snowfall.</span></div>
DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-61966079500801252062016-06-03T13:25:00.000-07:002016-06-03T13:25:08.888-07:00COLORADO TRAIL (PART 1)<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
WALKING DISTANCE</div>
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Is it a societal thing that people just don't want to walk? Or, possibly, we don't want to exert ourselves beyond an agreed upon minimum distance and effort?</div>
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Since I decided to prepare for a 567-mile hike next year, and I've started going out for walks, people I meet seem to shiver--even step away from me--when I tell them about my activity.</div>
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What is the acceptable distance for someone to walk? One-hundred feet? A block? A couple blocks? Perhaps a mile at the outside?</div>
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This morning I left my studio and started walking toward the south end of Fort Collins. Along the way, I decided to see about getting a pedometer, perhaps from REI. But when I arrived, the store wasn't yet open. I walked on over to Target,and found a simple gadget that will meet my needs for the next year.</div>
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I left Target--roughly about three miles from home, and started walking down South College Avenue, with the goal of walking to Loveland.</div>
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Five miles later, with sore feet, I stopped when I found a bus stop for a regional bus line. Just minutes later, I saw a police cruiser heading north. I saw it make a U-turn, and it pulled up to where I was now sitting.</div>
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"Are you okay?"</div>
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"Sure," I said.</div>
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"Someone saw you, and called it in," the officer passenger said.</div>
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"I know what I'm doing," I assured him. "I've done this walk before. Today though, I'm waiting for a bus, and it should be here momentarily."</div>
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"We're just checking on you," the officer said.</div>
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A minute later, they were gone.</div>
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Two minutes after that, the bus, heading south to Loveland, arrived, and my day of exercise was officially over.</div>
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In the next 363 days, I'll work on increasing my endurance, my distance walked, and start adding weight to my backpack.</div>
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It is my fate, it seems, to be an outlier, an exception to whatever rules I encounter. I don't have the time, or the intention, to participate in debates about what I should or shouldn't, can or can't, do</div>
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I have a journey to get ready for.</div>
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DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-88852019032714165852016-02-26T19:36:00.003-08:002016-02-26T19:36:22.024-08:00SILENCES<div style="font-family: 'Bell MT'; font-size: 18px; min-height: 24px;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Night has scrubbed clean</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The street of light</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And sound.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Gone, the sound of church bells,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The whoosh of passing cars,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The echoes of spectators</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Watching children playing soccer,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sprinklers spritzing on, then off,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The roar of lawn-mowers--</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">All gone under the persistent,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Downward pressure of dark matter.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Air--that combination of oxygen</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>And nitrogen--</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Clear in the daylight,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Becomes impenetrable.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">See nothing/</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Hear everything--</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The night is made for listening,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The receipt of words,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The interpretation of silences.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Life’s alternating current--</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Day, with the eyes open,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Absorbing,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Translating,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And night, when sight gives way</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">To sound,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Gives way to touch,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Gives way to smells</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Of lotions, perfumes,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">These hours--</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sacred, extraordinary, time--</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">For extrications, contractions,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Retractions and consents,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Rebirth</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Of skin and spirit,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Blood and belief--</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">All in this weightlessness</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Of night's caress.</span></div>
DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-38849151768425059892016-02-26T19:32:00.003-08:002016-02-26T19:32:55.104-08:00ON HER BLINDNESS<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; min-height: 14px;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">With the right side of the world</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">invisible, not darkness--</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">there is no darkness except</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">when I close my eyes each night,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Navigating through each day</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">is sometimes hard work to do.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The left eye, ninety-five percent</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">disconnected, the nerve torn</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I stride down sidewalks quicker</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">than "normal" people believe.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">"You're not really blind, you know,"</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">is shouted from some passing car.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">By now, I just laugh at them.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">If they only knew my life</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">from all its vantagepoints.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I would trade this cane, truly,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">for a driver's license.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I envy their freedom--</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">always have. But I can see</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the world at a slower speed</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">as long as I have sidewalks,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">or bike lanes, wider shoulders</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">on the roads I travel.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In my two-dimentional</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">world, I talk to people</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">everyday, and everyday,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">strangers can't help but marvel</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">at my refusal to yield.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Let's take away their car keys,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">force them to walk to bus stops,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">waiting in all kinds of weather</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">for buses that never come.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Let them board buses that stop</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">too far from the curb </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to manage without stepping</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in snow, in puddles, in mud.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Let them try to figure out</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">how to get from </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>point A</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>to point B</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">without having to ask for help.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The empty half of my life</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">has always existed.<br />
Everyone, and everything,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">has height and width, but no depth.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">"Where is...?" is answered by</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">someone pointing their finger,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">which, of course, I cannot follow.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">It must be hard--to drive, to look</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">where one is going. to shop,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to work, to play, just to live,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">with all one's faculties intact:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">how do you manage so well?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">How do you manage to ask</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">such stimulating questions?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">without tripping on your tongue,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">without your brain convulsing</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">from the effort of inquiry?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I would really like to know.</span></div>
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DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-76433902181760436262016-02-11T18:30:00.001-08:002016-02-11T19:48:46.566-08:00OLD SNOW<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Ten days old now,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the snow--what remains--</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">has lost its lightness,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">has become hard, slick</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">dangerous, melting each day,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">refreezing each night.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">When it fell, I walked</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to take out my trash,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">through fourteen inches</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of wet and cold morning.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Now, when I go outside,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">thinly spread on sidewalks</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I have learned to carefully</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">navigate in boots--</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">not my tennis shoes.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Another week</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of sunlight, and fifty degrees,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and maybe it will leave once</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and for all, only to be replaced</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">by the next, inevitable, storm.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The groundhog didn't see his shadow,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">so perhaps the snow won't fall</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">as late into this year</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">as it has in years past.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0px;">Copyright </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">©</span><span style="font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 0px;"> 2016 by the author</span></span></div>
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DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-89555969876031431052015-04-23T09:39:00.003-07:002015-04-23T09:39:57.266-07:00THE RESTLESS KIND (PART II)<br />
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The gypsy has settled down. After four bus trips to Colorado from Los Angeles, I signed a lease for a studio apartment in northern Colorado in July of 2014. Three weeks later, I shipped 18 FedEx boxes to Fort Collins, handed my house-key to my sister, and boarded Greyhound from San Diego--long story--and headed for my new home. Three transfers later (Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Salt Lake) I arrived. But because of a delay in Salt Lake, I arrived too late to get the key to my studio. I would spend that night at Motel 6. For the first time in two nights I slept in a real bed, happy to know I was coming home.</div>
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The next morning I grabbed my three pieces of luggage and made my way to the leasing office. I called for a taxi, but before they arrived, another motel guest offered me a ride. Together with her boyfriend, we made our way--about four miles, I think--to the apartment complex.</div>
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After signing the lease, I headed across the street. </div>
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The studio is a ground-floor unit. My door is right under the stairs. Right outside the door were the boxes I had shipped, all intact, all undisturbed. When my new friends had left, I began moving the boxes inside.</div>
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When I had found the apartment the previous month, the tenant had still been living here, so I couldn't get a tour. Instead, I was shown photos on the leasing agent's computer. I saw bookshelves, and lots of open space. I also saw the washer/dryer tucked away in the bathroom, and a brief glimpse of the kitchen area. Pictures, however, didn't do it justice. Empty of furniture, the studio seemed larger--emptier.</div>
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I had no furniture. I left behind a bed that i had bought 10 years before. Shipping that would have cost me more money than I had for this relocation, so I left it behind. I had posted an ad online, trying to sell it, but I had had no takers by the time I had left for San Diego for a family gathering prior to my departure.</div>
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Box by box, I found a place for my things. Sometimes the placement was temporary. I knew, once I was completely unpacked, I would find a more permanent location. </div>
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The unpacking took the better part of a week. Books went onto the bookshelves. Clothes--once I located the hangers in the last box opened-found their home in the one closet.</div>
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Before leaving Los Angeles, I had ordered a futon to be delivered to my new address. It took nearly four weeks for it to arrive. In the interim, I slept on an air-mattress my sister had given to me. Each night I re-inflated it. Each morning, I moved it to a corner of the room and out of my way. </div>
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Fort collins is a much smaller town than Los Angeles. For the next few weeks I walked everywhere. I explored different streets, neighborhoods, as I familiarized myself with the place I hoped to make my new home. </div>
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It felt like I had brought Los Angeles weather with me. It was August when I arrived, and days found me navigating the city in 80- and 90-degree weather. Then, most days, thunderstorms would come in during the afternoons. I had experienced this in my previous trips, so I was prepared for the storms when they came each day. Usually I tried to be back home by the time the first raindrops fell, but not always.</div>
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Something that I hadn't noticed on my exploratory trips was the number of trains that pass through Fort Collins on a daily basis. For the first several weeks I would wake up in the middle of the night, roused by a train's whistle. I discovered that I had unknowingly settled halfway between two sets of railroad tracks. To the west were the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe tracks. To the east, Union Pacific. I still don't know which trains are the ones that wake me each morning to this day. Eventually--now eight months--the trains don't disturb my sleep so much, but they do mark the beginning and end of my days.</div>
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A couple of months after I had finally settled in, my sister called to ask me to return to Los Angeles at the end of the school year. She was planning to travel to Australia, and she wanted me to take care of her animals in her absence: two dogs, a cat, a rabbit, and two small frogs. So I'll be traveling again. This time, once she returns from her vacation, I'll be heading out on a new gypsy's trip. This time, the destination will be North dakota. I'll also make stops in Idaho and Montana while en route, and take three more states off the list of those I have yet to visit.</div>
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The trip to Los Angeles will be by air, but the rest of the trip will be via Greyhound again. It will involve two layovers on the first leg (Las Vegas and Salt Lake City again--and one layover between Butte Montana and Bismarck. (I'll stop briefly in Bozeman.) </div>
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The trip home (God I love saying that about returning to Colorado--will involve two layovers, Minneapolis and Kansas City, before I'm back in Fort Collins. </div>
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It looks as though this gypsy has finally found the place where she wants to settle down.</div>
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I'm sure there will be more traveling in my future. There are about 12 states I have yet to visit. Making those trips will be shorter--easier--starting from the middle of the country, rather from the west coast. Most of the states I have yet to see are either mid-Atlantic or northeastern states--with the exception of Florida, which I've somehow missed in all the family travels. </div>
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Colorado, and the Rockies, will always be my home--that place I return to from wherever else I wander.</div>
DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-60784703564763781452014-10-11T16:58:00.001-07:002014-10-11T16:58:15.609-07:00TO THE MUSES<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The night, half-spent,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">leads to the day occupied with fatigue,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the need for caffeine constant,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the desire for sleep, persistent.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The pill that brings sleep</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">also erases the next day, </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">soI don't reach for that square bottle</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">with its history and its promises.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Instead, I write, freeing</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">words to flood</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">onto the page,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the radio on low volume,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the sound of occasional traffic</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">passing outside my window.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">two days away from possible</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">early snow. Perhaps then,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">thinly blanketed, I'll</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">stumble over some rest.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">For now, the muses tinker</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">with synapses, sending</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">words skittering</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">from fingers,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">unafraid of the darkness,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">unaware of the early hour.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They, the muses, must not know</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">what a clock is for, or how it works.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They have always taunted,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">tempted, with words:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">"Come on! Wake up! You have work to do."</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I must not rest.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I have been chosen.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I am the annointed one,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the transcriber</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">through whom</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">tales will be told,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">secrets divulged,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">lessons--perhaps--</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">taught.</span></div>
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Copyright (c) 2014 by the author</div>
DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-81895442803345881142013-09-11T16:40:00.001-07:002013-09-11T16:40:06.651-07:00THE RESTLESS KIND<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I can feel a certain excitement in my veins as I contemplate the next trip. This time, I will be better prepared. I will bring my tennis shoes, because I will be doing lots of walking. I will bring my sweater, which I forgot the last time I headed for the Rockey Mountains. I will bring the monocular that allows me to read street signs, because, in Fort Collins, the signs are either small, hang out over the intersections, or both. I have 31 days to prepare for this trip, whereas the last time, which was truly an impulse journey (and the partial fulfillment of a lifelong dream) came together in just two. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Where my last trip experience occurred on the hinge of spring and winter, this escape will take place after the official beginning of fall. I know to expect he unexpected when it comes to weather. Will I arrive in Indian summer, warm and beautiful, or will there be rainstorms that share the days?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I have been a restless traveler since I was a child. On one family weekend, visiting friends in San Diego, I remember walking on a county road in a rural area, and getting perhaps a hundred feet ahead of my parents. I loved climbing the hills, moving quickly, then taking my time as I descended. I never wanted it to stop.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I was seventeen when the gypsy bug truly bit me. Sitting at home one afternoon, a friend of mine called me on my new phone.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">"Ishmael and I are going to Las Vegas tonight. Do you want to come?"</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I talked to my parents. They weren't sure they wanted their blind teenager to go running off to Vegas, but at least I wouldn't be alone. My friends, Louis and Ishmael would be there. Louis was eighteen, and his brother, sixteen.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Another concern was money. I had a bank account, and I had some money. How much would I need? How long would we be gone? After a couple more quick phone calls, some negotiation between us would-be gypsies, we decided we would go for just the day. That first trip would last about thirty hours.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Permission was granted.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Midnight found us at the Greyhound station, waiting excitedly for our bus to arrive. I remember being surprised at how many people surrounded us. Some were heading south toward Mexico. Some were heading north to the central valley and beyond. But there was also a core group of us waiting to head east.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We arrived in Las Vegas about time for breakfast. None of us were legally allowed into the casinos to play the slots, but sticking together, we managed to stay clear of casino security as we dropped nickels, quarters, dollars into various slot machines.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Ishmael, the youngest of the group, was the lucky one, hitting a four-hundred-dollar jackpot on a quarter slot before lunch. Meanwhile, Louis and I kept playing, drinking all the free soda the casinos would provide us. We even had a couple alcoholic drinks during that day.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The bus that would take us home was scheduled for midnight. When we weren't gambling, we ventured out into the summer heat to explore the city on foot. We managed to explore several casinos during our eighteen-hour foray into a life we weren't yet old enough to legally partake.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">By eleven that night, exhausted, yet still running on the excitement of what we were doing, we made our way back to the bus station. There would be about six hours to catch up on any sleep. For the moment we just swapped stories of things that we had seen and done.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Arriving back in Los Angeles at dawn on Sunday morning, we boarded a metro bus and headed back home.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">There would be two more trips to Vegas that year: one with the three of us, the last with just Louis and me. By then, we had found the city enticing enough to get a hotel room where we could crash, thus extending the weekend from just a day-trip to a weekend. On none of these trips did I ever come out ahead monetarily. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Three Greyhound trips in the span of about four months, and the gypsy bug was definitely in me. I began to dream about taking a longer trip, perhaps a cross-country trip. I would stop in various places. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">As a kid, I had gone on several family vacations that involved long car trips. My family had driven to Baja Mexico one year, and to Vancouver Canada another. Another year, we drove around the country visiting aunts and uncles and cousins: Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, then Georgia. From Georgia we visited more family in South Carolina, then drove through North Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee. Eventually, we reached Illinois, where the bulk of my maternal relatives were living at the time. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Leaving Illinois, we moved through Wisconsin and Minnesota, visiting even more extended family, before beginning the homeward leg. South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and eventually we made our way back to Los Angeles.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Future family travels would be shorter, as my siblings and I grew older. We went to New Mexico one year. The next, we went to Colorado. These trips were necessitated by the movement of my older siblings, and they opened my eyes to areas of the country I had not seen, or had passed through on the way to somewhere else. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Fast forward now to 1989. At twenty-six, working in my first job, earning my own money, I decided one Thursday afternoon that I wanted to go away for the weekend. After a couple quick phone calls from my desk on my lunch break, I was ready.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I arrived at work that Friday morning with just a small backpack containing two days' worth of clothes. When a coworker asked me about my plans for the weekend, I told her I was going to San Diego.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">"So you have to go home and pack?"</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">"No." I gestured at the backpack. "I'm leaving straight from here. I'm walking over to Union Station at four-fifteen."</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">She didn't believe me. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">At four-fifteen, we walked out of the court together. She headed for the bus stop to go home, and I headed around the corner and on my two-block walk to catch a train.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I never quite bought into the American Dream. Owning a home has never held any appeal for me. Even after I married, and started a family, the idea of laying down roots was foreign to me. I thought I would change if and when I found the place where I wanted to stay permanently.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Before we married, Chris and I had talked about relocating. She didn't like (more truthfully, she hated) Los Angeles, and made me promise we would relocate as soon as a job could be found closer to northern California and her family. That wouldn't happen for five years, and would involve an earthquake, stairs leading to the apartment being torn from the wall, and a fortuitous phone call.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I had let my boss know I was interested in transferring. She must have said something to one of her colleagues, because two days after the ground had begun moving, I got a phone call.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">"How would you like to come to San Francisco?"</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A month later, I walked into the San Francisco office. I would be there for the next twelve years.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Where Chris never made a secret of her desire to put down roots, I've never hidden my gypsy impulses. The competing dreams eventually led to separation. Whatever our similarities, our shared faith, our love for our daughter, it wasn't enough to keep us bound. Just short of eleven years, we separated.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">One of my long-term dreams is to set foot on all seven continents. For now though, I'll settle for exploring the continental United States, on bus when I can, on foot whenever possible, by train when I have the time, by plane when I don't</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">(To be continued)</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Copyright (c) 2013 by the author.</span></div>
DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-88540901033829609362013-09-11T05:07:00.003-07:002013-09-11T05:07:54.382-07:00HONEY<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>At roughly the same time each day</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>the barking begins, the call to play.</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Anyone can answer, go outside,</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>grab a ball--any ball will do--</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>in Honey's mind. There is only play.</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Knowing to the inch how far to throw</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>the ball, how high to bounce against</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>the wall, the metal door of the garage,</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>off the dog-house, the picnic table.</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>I change the trajectory, forcing </b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Honey to watch my hands. When the ball leaves</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>me behind, she jumps, she runs--sometimes she catches,</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>sometimes the orange and blue orb</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>eludes her, skitters into bushes,</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>drops magically into the water bowl.</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>(Two points, please!) </b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>We can do this for hours. Honey never tires,</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>it seems. Her focus, her enthusiasm</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>never flags. With ball in hand,</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>I have her full attention.</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b> If only she obeyed when no ball</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>was in sight. at least, for now,</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>she sits, she waits patiently,</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>trusting that I'll throw the ball.</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Yellow whirlwind, tail wagging,</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Honey throws her whole being</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>into whatever the game might be.</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>And when I lose track, Honey confidently</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>hunts under and around any obstacles</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>just to keep the game going. She knows</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>my blindness. when I bend, hands on</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>knees, she knows to stop running in circles</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>and brings me the ball.</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>and I know, by the sound of her breathing,</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>the time she takes to retrieve the ball,</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>when her energy is almost spent.</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>I say,"I'm done." And Honey heads inside</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>without protest. Maybe she thinks</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>later we can play some more.</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Copyright (c) 2013 by the author</b></span></div>
DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-24887886518950270852013-09-02T08:15:00.001-07:002013-09-02T08:15:29.988-07:00WATER FUTURES<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>WATER FUTURES</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>Day One</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Water futures soaring</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Overhead,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Denying baptism to thirsty,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Fire-prone land,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Tempting with humid, undrinkable</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Air</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">As the currents carry the promise</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Further east, perhaps to flush</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Out the desert dust</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And leave the citizens' tongues parched</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Again. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Wildfires rage, race through fuels</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Created by prolonged water-denial.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Some wish,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Some pray,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Some dance</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">To satisfy a need</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Overlooked in el nino's visitations. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Pages turn, orbit continues, </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Rotation remains constant, </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">All things in their time;</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This includes elusive rain.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Meanwhile,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Manzanita and chaparral,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Wild grass, now bone-dry,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Vulnerable to careless people,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Carefree lightning.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And water futures I won't place</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">My money on are floating</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Overhead, just out of reach.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Day Two</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The clouds of offering are gone,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Sent onward, by the winds,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Heading in the wrong direction</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In this poet's opinion,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">To do any good. Perhaps</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">There is concurrent need</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Not yet known,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The ounce of prevention</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Against ten thousand gallons of </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Cure.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The skies, with small dots of</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Clouds now let the heat</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Escape in infrared waves</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Heading upward and outward,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">This dry, end of summer ritual</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Just another of the dances</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We, here on the surface, never</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Truly comprehending,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Must powerlessly observe,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Ever hopeful, ever wishing,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">For the chill wind. Only then,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We wish back the warmth</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Of summer fled.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Summer holds its place</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Until its sands, too,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Have vanished from</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The hourglass.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And still, we dream of</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Water.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The firefighters wish for home,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Their soft beds and</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The beautiful riot</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Of normal.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Copyright (c) 2013 by the author</span></div>
DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-2923853789861347612013-08-29T08:13:00.003-07:002013-08-29T08:13:36.728-07:00THE CAT<br />
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<b>THE CAT</b></div>
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<b></b><br /></div>
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<b></b><br /></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>There are, I've found, two ways to center myself: put a baby in my arms, or a cat in my lap. In the early years of dealing with depression, and before the self-injury began, I adopted a cat from another person in therapy. I had mentioned to her that I wanted to do this, but wanted to wait until my daughter could participate. One day, after we were through with groups and individual therapies, she asked me if I would be interested in taking her cat, Princess. It seems she and her husband had a dog, a boxer, who was tormenting the cat, and they wanted to find her a good home.</b></div>
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<b></b><br /></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The night Michelle and Princess came, we talked awhile. Michelle had come straight from the vet's office, updating Princess's shots. </b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Princess must have known that she was going to a new home, and didn't like it much. When freed from her carrier,she tore down my short hallway and into the bathroom. Here, she climbed the shower curtain and brought it clattering down to the floor. From there she headed for the only open door she could find, which led to my bedroom, and from there, into my closet. We (Michelle and I) tried to talk her out. I think we even tried to bribe her with food, but no deal. Princess was in her safe place and wouldn't budge.</b></div>
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<b>It took at least a week before I could coax her from her hiding place in the corner of the closet. I would leave the apartment each day having set out her food and water, and by the time I returned later, from work or therapy, the food would be gone, and the water seriously depleted.</b></div>
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<b>As treatments continued, I would return home and head straight for the closet. I would kneel down and reach in to pet the scared cat, talk to her,and assure her no one would hurt her. Eventually she ventured out while I was doing chores one afternoon without any cajoling from me.</b></div>
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<b></b><br /></div>
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<b>A routine began to develop. When I got home, I would grab my tape-player and a book, grab the cordless phone, a soda and a snack, then sit down on the couch. Once I sat down, Princess claimed my lap, stretching out and treating me to prolonged purring. Provided that I didn't have to move, I could count on at least 30 minutes of lap time, some times longer. I would pet her as long as she permitted. She would let me know, by repositioning, by a gentle nudge, or kneading of my leg, that I was to stop.</b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b></div>
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<b>Five years ago, I had to put Princess down. She had caught leukemia via a scratch from another animal at some time and had gotten progressively sicker until she barely moved. </b></div>
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<b>Now there is another cat. In fact, at one time, there were three before Princess died. But now there is only one, and he, too, demands lap time. We just had about 20 minutes of it, giving me time to think (or not) about other things Mostly, I just sat, one hand near his tummy, the other just beyond one paw. When Olie, my sister's 12-year-old tabby, was done with this particular nap, he gracefully rose, then jumped from my lap to find another napping spot. </b></div>
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<b>And so, I can get on with my day.</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b></div>
DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-75279254412140607922013-08-25T16:12:00.001-07:002013-08-25T16:12:03.594-07:00MY BIBLIOGRAPHY<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span><b>A LIFETIME BIBLIOGRAPHY</b> has its origins in my junior year of high school. In the fall semester I enrolled in two English classes: American Literature (required) and Creative Writing. I looked forward to the second as it was the first creative writing class I had taken thus far. As for theAmerican Literature, I had no expectations. It was, after all, required. I had no way of knowing that the combination of these two classes would put me on a path, setting off a lifelong obsession.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>First period was American Literature. (I remember this because of an event I reserve for another time.) Mr. Rosemond was the teacher. That first day, he passed out the syllabus, with a list of the books we would be reading for the semester. There, I found Nathaniel Hawthorn, Mark Twain, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway and F. Scot Fitzgerald. (There may have been more, but at this distance, I don't remember them all. These were the authors we would be discussing over the next twenty weeks.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Next, Mr. Rosemond brought up the subject of the term paper. We could, he informed us, choose to explore a literary theme, a specific book, or the collected works of an author. He gave us a couple days to decide which track we would follow. Of course, we would have to run it by him first, but then we were on our own.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Meanwhile, in Creative Writing, that first day, Mrs. Sternlicht went through much the same first day ritual. She told us about the schedule--how frequently the stories would be due, the assorted in-class assignments, and her grading policy.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>"I want to strongly suggest," she said at some point, "that you start keeping a record of the books that you read. Reading different authors, getting exposure to different styles, different voices, is how you'll improve your own writing. Furthermore," she added, "when you get to college, you'll be able to show your professors what you've already read."</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The first generation of what became LIFETIME BIBLIOGRAPHY was maintained in braille on 8-1/2x11 paper and kept in a notebook. I had already found a love of reading before the eleventh grade, so there were titles I could already enter into this logue. Most were children's books, but not all. I read, for the first time when I was twelve, Leo Tolstoy's </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>ANNA KARENINA</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Back in American Literature, I-proposed John Steinbeck's major works as my term project, and Mr. Rosemond agreed.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Over the next twenty weeks, reading and writing, I fell in love with John Steinbeck's books. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>THE GRAPES OF WRATH</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>, </b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>EAST OF EDEN</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">,<b> </b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>OF MICE AND MEN</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">,<b> </b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>IN DUBIOUS BATTLE</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">,<b> </b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>TORTILLA FLAT</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>CUP OF GOLD</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">--I read them hungrily, along with the assigned readings already mentioned. One by one, the bibliography grew. By semester's end, the notebook where I kept the list of reading accomplishments was filling out quite nicely. (Only later did I receive, and devour, </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>WINTER OF OUR DISCONTENT</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b> and </b>THE RED PONY</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>)</b></span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Spring meant switching from reading literature to Expository Composition. Here, too, there were authors and titles to add to the notebook: these, however, were mostly nonfiction: essay collections, books on grammar and other writing tools and guidelines. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>And then came summer--a time when I was free to read whatever I wanted without any input from teachers.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As mentioned before, the original bibliography was written down in braille. I am legally (but not totally) blind. I was born with hydrocephalus. This led to the loss of all vision in my right eye and minimal vision in my left. I began reading braille when I was four. When I entered kindergarten, teachers decided to teach me braille rather than print, presuming that my residual vision was too weak to allow me to read large print. Just two years before the bibliography originated, I had begun to teach myself how to read print, and could slowly read typed letters. That same year, a special education teacher had been surprised to learn that I couldn't even sign my name, and had set out on a mission to fix that. She had my name engraved in pressed wood so that I could learn to trace the letters of my name. To this day, my signature is hardly legible.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The years passed, and the bibliography kept growing. Initially, in college, I was a business administration major, but I didn't want to add textbooks to the logue I was keeping, so most of the entries from that part of my life were fiction, read after homework was done, on breaks, over summer vacations. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In the summer of 1982 I started a separate logue with the intent of seeing just how many books I read over the break. The answer to that was twenty. On that list were several titles by Danielle Steel and Robert Ludlum, but also included were a couple works of Shakespeare, as well as other plays. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>When I told the person I was dating at the time, the response was: "You could have spent more time with me." </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I just laughed.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Up to this point, all entries were written in braille. Between 1977 and 1984 I alternated between notebooks and index cards. Notebooks were more portable. Index cards were more flexible. With each new author and/or title, I would have to find the corresponding page, rewrite it, inserting the newest achievement in its proper place. On the other hand, index cards were much easier to change, were smaller, and sometimes got misplaced, or damaged.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>After seventeen years of continuous schooling, I convinced the Department of Rehabilitation, as well as my parents, to permit me a one-semester sabbatical from college. for the next nine months I read, and read, and red. Seventy-six books (averaging two books per week) I returned to class, changed my major from business administration to English, and got on with my pursuit of a degree.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1985 was the year I took the technological leap. I bought an Apple IIe and painstakingly created the first of what turned out to be many bibliography files. While I could now more easily update author and title entries, I ran into repeated occasions where the file was accidentally deleted, or the computer would crash, leaving me to start almost from scratch. (I still had the boxes of index cards from which to resurrect the bibliography. This was the cycle I would repeat over and over from 1985 until 1994.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In 1986, in another creative writing class (my first at college level) the professor passed out to us students a list of recommended reading. It wasn't, he explained, something he expected us to complete by the end of the semester. Instead, it was something we should work on for the rest of our lives. Three pages in length, it was a list of authors, with some specific titles, that we might read.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> Some of the authors and titles were already familiar to me, but most of them were unknown. I set out to read as many of them as I could.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Let me stop here for a minute to explain some rules I have imposed, and some personal foibles. First, a foible: if an author fails to grab hold of my attention within the first thirty pages or so (side one of an audiocassette, say) then I hit the STOP button and send the book back to the lending library. Life is too short to read something that bores me. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The first rule I imposed on myself around this time (1986) was that I would not include textbooks in my bibliography. By this time, nine years into the life of the project, textbooks would have comprised a sizable portion of the space. Only after I graduated, and realized that some of those textbooks were actually enjoyable and would have otherwise been included, did I bend the rule</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The second rule I imposed was to add only entries where I had read the entire book. Unless I had enjoyed the entire book, I didn't write it down. This, too, got amended due to my love of poetry and short stories. I may not enjoy <i>every</i> story or poem in a given collection, but I read the book otherwise in its entirety.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>So far, my reading had taken place through the media of braille, cassettes, even the original version of talking books on vinyl records. In college though, I got a job working in the university library. During quiet periods, before and after my shifts, I browsed the stacks. My vision is such that small books are easier to read to completion. This led me to explore drama and poetry predominantly. With a new book in hand, plucked from the PR or PS shelves, I would make my way back to the Fine Arts Desk and resume my post as student librarian. If the book caught my attention, at shift's end I would make my way downstairs to the circulation desk and check it out. If not, it went back on the shelf where it belonged. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This random reading opened my eyes to writers I had never heard of, whose books weren't always available from the National Library Service. Karen Lindsey, Robert Sherwood, Francesco Petraca are a few of the names I remember from this two year interval with whom I became familiar. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Along with the RECOMMENDED READING assigned by Professor Jim Krusoe, I started reading from the Washington Post Book World. Not only did I write down the authors and titles of the books reviewed there, I also read books by the reviewers as well. This turned a three-page list into something that grew explosively, opening my eyes to even more writers, styles, subject, and voices.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As an English major, I was simultaneously taking classes in American and British literature. I remember taking British literature in reverse chronological order: first modern literature, then nineteenth-century, then eighteenth, and so on. Not only did this add to my bibliography, but it also helped me to see the impact of different traditions more clearly, changes in culture, evolution of themes and styles</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>On January 17, 1994, my faithful Apple IIe died a quick but painful death when the Northridge earthquake threw it from my desk to the floor with a Richter scale 6.8 shove. For nine years the computer had been where I wrote my stories and maintained my reading histories. Again, with the help of old fashioned index cards, I would have to reconstruct a computer record. This time, it would be via a PC.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>And so the cycle continues. Nowadays I sometimes enter new authors and titles before I've completed a book, so excited am I to put down evidence of a new literary find.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As I write this, the bibliography or logue is approaching thirty-three years of existence, and is, in some way, an autobiography. Perhaps I could have chosen to maintain this reading record in chronological, rather than alphabetical, order. Then I would see the intellectual progression, mental and emotional development. (One would notice when my daughter was born by the avalanche of children's books to be entered into the logue. and the inclusion of psychology-related titles would announce my abortive attempt to pursue a naster's degree in psychology, a pursuit of an MFT license. Later, it would show the addition of books on legal themes as I pursued, successfully, my paralegal certificate.) But that would most likely have led to something so unwieldy that I'd have given up on it years ago.. Better, perhaps, that I followed this instinct. Even alphabetically organized, it fills more pages than years of existence. I manage to add roughly one page of authors and titles for each year of life. That adds up to anywhere between thirty and sixty books per year..</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Books have accompanied me on many a bus or train ride or airplane flight. They have helped me pass time in countless waiting rooms over the last three decades.. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>I wonder if Mrs. Sternlicht's suggestion lit a fire in other students.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Did they start a record of their reading?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Did they maintain it, or give up after college?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Am I the only one for whom it became an addiction, an automatic reaction to finding good books to read?</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As it grows to its current length of thirty-eight pages, the bibliography demonstrates that I continue to be curious about many different things: psychology, law, history, drama, cultures worldwide. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>As long as I breathe, I will read.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Copyright (c) 2013 by the author</span></div>
DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-2090996023785747592013-08-25T16:10:00.001-07:002013-08-25T16:10:04.424-07:00COUNTING BACKWARDS<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>THE COST OF CALIFORNIA</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">as soon as</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the ground begins</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">moving underfoot,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">when windows rattle,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">doors start to swing--</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">closed, open, closed again,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">possessions move of</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">their own free will</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">with the slightest</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">encouragement</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">from their place</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of safety </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">toward falling,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>flying,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">desks become caves</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">under or behind</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">which to hide,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the world rises</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">then swiftly falls</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>away,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">up and down,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">here or there,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">inside or outside</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">becomes irrelevant,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">all that remains</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">is the motion--</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">when will it ever end--</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">clocks keep ticking,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">digits on cell phones</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">keep rolling over</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and over and over</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in LED progression.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">glass just shatters,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">car alarms keep shrilling,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">motion without emotion,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">unpremeditated</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>until</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">it just</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">stops--</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">again, without</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">reason.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Laws of motion,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">laws of gravity--</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">objects in motion</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">stay in motion.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Possessions--</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">unless lighter than air--</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">must fall:</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Newton's law of gravity dictating</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">terms again.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">is it your first,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">or just your</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">latest involuntary</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">transit across</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">(or through?)</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">terror</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">without an OFF switch?</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">stasis, having returned,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">draws us out</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to the ragged edge</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of normal</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to reoccupy</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">compassion, concern</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">for others.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">is anyone hurt?</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Is anybody bleeding?</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Do you smell gas?</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Why the metallic</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">taste?.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">only then do you </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">know you bit your tongue.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">reaching for the radio,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">you seek out </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the estimate of damage,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the cost,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">architectural,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">human.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">which is greater?</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">epicenter?</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Information, please.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-61252827777172177592013-08-25T16:05:00.001-07:002013-09-02T08:17:28.660-07:00THE COAST OF CALIFORNIA<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<b><u><br /></u></b></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">as soon as</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the ground begins</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">moving underfoot,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">when windows rattle,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">doors start to swing--</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">closed, open, closed again,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">possessions move of</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">their own free will</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">with the slightest</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">encouragement</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">from their place</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of safety </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">toward falling,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>flying,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">desks become caves</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">under or behind</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">which to hide,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the world rises</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">then swiftly falls</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>away,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">up and down,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">here or there,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">inside or outside</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">becomes irrelevant,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">all that remains</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">is the motion--</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">when will it ever end--</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">clocks keep ticking,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">digits on cell phones</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">keep rolling over</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and over and over</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in LED progression.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">glass just shatters,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">car alarms keep shrilling,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">motion without emotion,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">unpremeditated</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>until</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">it just</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">stops--</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">again, without</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">reason.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Laws of motion,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">laws of gravity--</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">objects in motion</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">stay in motion.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Possessions--</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">unless lighter than air--</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">must fall:</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Newton's law of gravity dictating</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">terms again.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">is it your first,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">or just your</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">latest involuntary</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">transit across</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">(or through?)</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">terror</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">without an OFF switch?</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">stasis, having returned,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">draws us out</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to the ragged edge</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of normal</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to reoccupy</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">compassion, concern</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">for others.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">is anyone hurt?</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Is anybody bleeding?</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Do you smell gas?</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Why the metallic</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">taste?.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">only then do you </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">know you bit your tongue.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">reaching for the radio,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">you seek out </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the estimate of damage,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the cost,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">architectural,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">human.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">which is greater?</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">epicenter?</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Information, please.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
Copyright (c) 2013 by the author</div>
DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-45839647897692122962013-08-25T15:59:00.001-07:002013-08-25T15:59:52.366-07:00FRIENDSHIP<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>How many friends do you have?</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Now, how many people would you lay down your life for></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>These are the questions that a professor raised in 1985 in Chicano Studies.</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Initially, the answers from us students were all over the place. Three, four, ten. One classmate said a hundred.</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>When the second question was asked, suddenly the answers became more and more conservative.</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>"If you have one friend, by this standard, you're lucky. If you have two or more, you are truly blessed.</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>He went on to explain that in certain cultures, like the chicano community, friendships were as highly valued as family connections. The only difference: we can choose our friends.</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>At that time, my answer was two, and both of them were people I had grown up with from at least kindergarten. The number has fluctuated, sometimes as small as one, other times as great as four.</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>One lesson I've learned is that it doesn't have to be reciprocal. Sometimes, someone is so special,for a reason or a season as I've heard it expressed. I know who these people are in my life. What I don't know, and we may never know until our back is against a wall, is who will go the distance for us. The answer is usually surprising.</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Do I tell them that they are special, that I would lay down my life for them? Sometimes that knowledge can come across as frightening, as if I'm requiring that commitment in return; but I'm not, and I don't. </div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>At present, there are two people in my life that fit this description, and both of them know. For one, he has never put it to the test, nor even asked for more than assistance after a medical procedure. As for the other, the revelation has put some distance between us at this time, though I hope that isn't permanent. (She will always know how to find me if that need should ever arise.) </div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>So, as the professor put it 28 years ago:</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>"How many friends do you have?"</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>"How many people would you risk your life for?"</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Something to think about today.</div>
DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-82210065356230330102013-06-17T20:08:00.002-07:002013-06-17T20:08:35.137-07:00THE WRITER AS THIEF
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In
blindness there is sound.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In
sound there is reverberation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In
reverberation I find direction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
sound of cars stopping,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Passing
me by--<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In
the cacophony of voices,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Words
and phrases disconnected <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">From
all the traffic of tongues,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Stories
surrounding me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Some
are lies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Some
are true.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It's
not up to me to discern<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Which
is which?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I
just capture them,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Preserving
them for <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A
future page,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A
line fragment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Wherever
a string of words<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Tangles
in my mind,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Snagging
my elusive attention,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">There
will, someday soon,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Be
a place for these transient <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Residents
to leap into <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Someone
else's life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Beware
the silent passerby:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">She's
observing you,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Taking
notes--<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">She's
stealing from you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And
you don't even know it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Copyright (c) 2013 by the author</span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br clear="ALL" style="mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" />
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<!--EndFragment-->DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-4938492845181929752013-06-17T20:04:00.001-07:002013-06-17T20:04:13.075-07:00CREDITORS
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">the phone keeps ringing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">at odd times of day,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">creditors seeking redress<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">of their grievances, prompt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">payment of the debts they <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">claim to hold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they offer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">terms--if one would answer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">the demanding, ringing phone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">no one is home, though. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">or at least, we pretend not to be<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">present. the telephone may make<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">its presence known, demand attention.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">we just unplug it,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">we just turn down the volume<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">so we won't hear its persistent rings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">Callers cannot reach through to us,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">insist that we pay attention--<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">pay homage--<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">pay the damned debt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">too many distractions,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">too many shows still to see<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">from the nearest DVR,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">too many websites to browse,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">too many Youtube videos.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">demand never intersects<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica;">with consent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua;"><o:p>Copyright (c) 2013 by the author</o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-73379351098883008092013-06-17T19:59:00.001-07:002013-06-17T19:59:41.985-07:00VODKA TALKING
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Vodka
talking,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">First
sip turns<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
first key to<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Loose
the demons<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Of
past and present<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Grievances.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Alcohol,
in its molecular<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Complexity,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Fits
the locks installed <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">By
years of repression,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Pushing
down--<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Compression
of memories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But
now, with each glass<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Of
tasty toxin,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
door opens wider,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And
memory never misses<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">An
opportunity to escape<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Into
the light,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Serrated
edges, images<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Draw
blood<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">From
unsuspecting hearts<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">With
the misfortune<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Of
proximity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">As
doors and windows<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Are
shoved open,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Walls
emerge to block<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Out
any evidence<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">When
tomorrow's harsh light<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>arrives<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">To
reveal the damage<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Inflicted
by pain's stampede--<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Words
carelessly flung<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In
the language of fermentation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Started
and stopped<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So
precisely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Chemistry--once
initiated--<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Resists
recapture by one<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 28.0pt 56.0pt 84.0pt 112.0pt 140.0pt 168.0pt 196.0pt 224.0pt 3.5in 280.0pt 308.0pt 336.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Repentant
septuagenarian.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br clear="ALL" style="mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" />
</span></u></b>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Perpetua; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p><span style="text-decoration: none;"> Copyright (c) 2013 by the author</span></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<!--EndFragment-->DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-31927727201509091012012-12-30T23:44:00.004-08:002012-12-30T23:44:49.016-08:00ANSWERS<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">where answers are found</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in swiftly rushing rivers,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">slick stones line the banks,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">thirsty trees line up</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to drink the water.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the animals,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">surefooted,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">fearlessly</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">share the bounty.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the wind twists</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and returns,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">rallying green troops,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">bringing the winged ones</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to drink,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to feast.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">frogs and </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">fish and</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">flies</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">converging</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in endless dance</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">until man</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">arrives,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">appropriates the view,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in all its forms,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">clears some trees,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">loosens soil's grasp</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">upon the land;</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">it slips away with the wind,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">washes away withthe rain</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">until only</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the deep-rooted plants</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">can draw the life-sustaining water.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the herbivores that come</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">will find less food. they move on.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The four-legged hunters will</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">find less prey.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">winged visitors will </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">find no bugs, no</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">frogs, </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">no seeds taking root</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in the asphalt. with its</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">scent stil acrid to the nose,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">on the tongue.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Copyright (c) 2012 by the author</span></div>
DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-12626538027444411182012-12-30T23:42:00.002-08:002012-12-30T23:42:28.506-08:00DIGITAL<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>DIGITAL</b></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">who has digitized me</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">has reduced me to</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">a bar code, </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">a string of numbers</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">telling of my physical location--the street</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">number, the apartment number,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the suite number</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">zip plus four:</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">come find me.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">come touch me if you dare.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">come speak to me</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Area code (XXX) has changed, again,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">changed again.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the physical location, too, has changed</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">without the burden of ownership.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">wherever i travel, I am trailed by nine digits</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">that prove my eligibility for so many things:</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">citizenship, of course,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">right to work,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">right to be taxed,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">right to be traced--endlessly</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">pursued by marketers </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">intent on convincing me</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">that I <i>need</i> what they have to sell.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">with sixteen digits embossed in plastic,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">rewritten in magnetic patterns,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">i purchase my daily bread, </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">my freedom to travel,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">my daily clutter that</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">consumes so much energy,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">time and talents.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Copyright (c) 2012 by the author</span></div>
DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-14907389399248894862012-12-30T23:20:00.003-08:002012-12-30T23:20:38.013-08:00ONCE<br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 17.0px;">
</div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Once the raindrop loses</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Its grip on the hovering cloud,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Once the river begins to flow,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Not the tree stumps,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Not the stones,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Not the build up of silt,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Will keep it contained.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">As inevitable as</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The rise and set of</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The son,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The tectonic movement</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Of plates,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The birth and</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Demise of fires,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The coming and going</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Of waves</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">On a beach,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The victories and</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The losses of nations</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">At war: words</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">And deeds are no barrier</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Between us.</span></div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br />
DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-88898442750861722242012-12-30T23:13:00.004-08:002012-12-30T23:13:40.875-08:00ANGELS LEAVING<br />
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 17.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>(For Newtown Connecticut)</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 17.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 17.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">angels leaving,</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">assignment complete,</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">drain the skies of blue,</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the trees of green</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">just a little </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">as their wings fill--</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">they lift off.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">what assignment,</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">over whom did they </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">keep their vigil?</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Lightweighted silence,</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the only evidence</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of their presence. </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">by the power of their love,</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">they lift the leaden sorrow,</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the molten anger,</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">words said and </span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">those omitted.</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">New names</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">with dates of departure</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and arrival</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">freshly scrawled</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in ledgers</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">for divine bookkeeping</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">purposes.--the book of life</span></div>
<div style="font: 14.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">must be maintained</span></div>
<div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Copyright (c) 2012 by the author</span></div>
DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-88592174272428102542012-12-30T23:11:00.001-08:002012-12-30T23:11:20.701-08:00PRACTICAL IMPERFECTION<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px; text-decoration: underline;"><b>PRACTICAL PERFECTION</b></span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Practical perfection</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>< Reality</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>> Than the possibility.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">There are always chinks,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Pieces missing from the human puzzle,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Scuff marks placed upon us by life's sharp edges.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Some imperfection is hard-wired</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">So that we learn--or know by instinct--</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">To find the pieces to complete the whole</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In others.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Not tall enough,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Not strong enough,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Pretty enough,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Smart enough,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Not fast enough,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Patient enough,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Loud enough,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Or</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Soft enough to </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Command attention.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Lord, let me trust</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In the necessity</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Of being created incomplete.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">copyright (c) 2012 by the author</span></div>
DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-38809590443014011442012-12-30T23:06:00.001-08:002012-12-30T23:06:16.350-08:00STONES<br />
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Stones have stories,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Never told,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Stories on top of stories</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Make a wall;</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">held together by mortar/</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">by skill,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">by gravity---</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">or by fear.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Stones flying through air</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Know, but will never tell,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">From whose hand they were launched</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Into the world--</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Across a stream,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Over a cliff,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">through a window,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Or skipped over water:</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">One, two, three, four splashes</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">marking progress across a pond.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">stones mark miles come, </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>or left to go,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Paths to follow,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Signals of safety</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Or of danger,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">For those who follow trailblazers.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Turn here.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Stop here.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Stones in lines mark boundaries</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Some might agree upon. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Stones</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in circles show where we </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Shall gather.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Stay in.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Stay out.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">We leave messages</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Without verbs or nouns,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Without a sound.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">many colors,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">many different values--</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">words of love,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">heft of hate</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The final stones mark</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Where journey's end--</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The terminus from which</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">There is no return trip.</span></div>
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Copyright (c) 2012 by the author</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Here lies:</span></div>
DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1290635852078312393.post-1434263215042186452012-11-01T20:16:00.001-07:002012-11-01T20:16:27.274-07:00invasion<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b></b></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Under the influence of</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">another boy,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">(could I really think myself</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">truly innocent?)</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"> I reached under</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the doormat for the key</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">we both knew was there.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">thinking no one is watching,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">believing ourselves to be</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">invisible, we moved inside</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">without concern for the trespass;</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">we were invincible.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">we weren't doing anything wrong</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in our own minds.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">into the kitchen, we greeted the parakeet</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">before seeking out the cookie jar.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">will we find homemade chocolate chip</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">or store-bought Oreos--</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">or cash hidden in</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">plain sight?</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">we picked up stray items, examined</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">someone else's belongings. </span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">what if someone else did this to us,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">entered our parents' house, </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">touched our things, </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">inspecting for value not always</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">monetary. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">we had minutes.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">we had hours, if we wanted them,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to intrude into the lives</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of neighbors who called us friends.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">what secrets were kept--and where--</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and why.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">three bedrooms:</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">parents, boys'.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">we pick up,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">examine, cherish, imagine,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">bicycle helmet and baseball glove,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">soccer ball, (the same</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">one we've used in neighborhood pickup games--</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">then replace evidence</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of life outside our knowledge.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">One girl resides here, but we</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">are too young to be interested</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in anything about her.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">at some point, without words,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">we retreat just as carelessly,</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">oblivious to the clues we left behind,</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">out to the driveway </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">by the side door;</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">two would-be juveniles</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">leave the scene of the crime</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">except where it remains</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in the back of our minds.</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">copyright (c) 2012 by the author</span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
DanaLynnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04089069338465695404noreply@blogger.com0