Cooking in Dakar

He said that we should cook together

So could I bring the required utensils, pots, pans

And spatulas, mixing spoons and a sharp knife.

I mingled with those who shop discount at GoodWill

Awed by the goods and their prices, at what the more moneyed

Can throw into a box for the less moneyed.

Those spatulas that need to be replaced with a new color,

Or a saute pan, seemingly never used, that seeks a new home.

Why not Dakar,

Where the flame of a propane tank will sear a locally caught fish,

I can't wait to smell the delicious odor of fried fish

Mingling with the fresh breeze off the ocean. 

 

The Importance of Darkness

The stars can't reach me 

I curse the streetlights that flood the bedroom

My eyes never sleep

The agitation makes me hot, my feet reach

Towards the cold darkness

On the other side of the bed

I know the stars are shining there

My eyes sleep.

 

Love letters

I do love her

And

She loves unicorns.

They are everywhere in her life, temporary tattoos,

A tall stuffed unicorn at Nana's

She straddles it just barely this year.

Next year, she'll stand tall over her and will carry her around

As if a small suitcase, a support object for 

Challenges in life.

We all have them, these challenges, but when a letter arrives

In our mailbox,

They all temporarily fall away as LOVE

Tumbles out of the envelope as soon

As the beloved opens it. 

 

Happy birthday to me

 Happy birthday to me, a gift to remember him by, 

The man with the broad smile, the one with not too 

Long to live, that one, handsome at age 47, 

Yes, the one whose fingers weave thin strips of palm into 

Hearts, propelling me into his world of beaches in Nicaragua,  where an old man taught him this magic.

There is magic in his eyes that will soon cloud over as they look heavenward to his God.  

Breakfast bar in La Fortuna

Pico gallo and eggs for us,

Banana, oranges and seeds for them 

I'm wondering if I can look them up and add them to

My non-existent bird list, the one that exists only in my mind,

The one that will start when I retire, when I have time

And motivation to go out with Jeff, and learn about 

Birds.

Yes, the birds at the breakfast bar will seed my bird list,

The one that I will start as soon as I get home. 

I'll tell Jeff all about it and he will show me the way,

Will motivate me to get up early, to open my ears and bring the 

Binoculars to my eyes.  

He will teach me all about birds.  

Thank you in advance, Jeff.

 

The surprise on the other side

I was surprised by the blue flash, its iridescence on the other

Side of what was already beautiful

Why add more beauty, a different beauty when there was

Already enough of it, with its pattern of brown,

Yellow and grey whirls and swirls, why add an 

Iridescent blue that flashes like an intermittent

Lantern, leading me towards the woods, into an 

Unknown world, one where there may be dangers, 

But also joy, surely surprises, like blue on the 

Other side of what was already beautiful,

Finding time to be astonished. 

 

Feeling small

Next to this towering tree, I am so small,

My husband, taller than me, is so small, 

We are so small, the fires in Los Angeles rage over our heads 

We are all so powerless and yet we point our fingers at the other

The other small beings who too often choose small ideas and hurl

Them with their small angry hand, the one not clutching their billions

I reach down and stroke the smooth bark that stretches

Impossibly high into the canopy

The leaves up top are so high, they look down on me

And see how small I am, so distant. 

shimmering endlessly in the sky

Smiling upwards.