incipient racism

I took the test, the Harvard test.
the one that tells you what you fear to know
I have high incipient racism although I
never signed up for it I learned it somewhere
from the TV and the movies, from others,
from never living with them side by side,
instead buffered by a wall of indifference and
bigotry, I learned with the rest of them
and now
when the survey says I am racist, it pierces
my heart but engages my brain
knowledge is power
change is possible

Black is beautiful

Black is beautiful

Powerful women are beautiful

wielding swords and spinning disks

they plunge forth into battle

eyes shining with determination 

we must follow them

courageously.  

pink cashmere

I was wearing pink cashmere

to match the baby blue skies, drifting 

wisps of white completed the pastel

montage

a few hardy souls braved the cold wind

we watched them come down from a distance

a trail of ants descending along a sinuous path

pink cashmere, so soft and luxurious,

(even with many small moth holes)

is not so warm in a cold wind,

we headed down the hill towards

home.

alone in the field

alone,

the photographers gathered at the edge

of the field, their camera poised for 

the perfect shot.

snow white.

we were young and old, children

tugging at their parents hands, an

older Japanese couple seemingly

frozen in time

this is a timeless moment

where beauty is right in front

of you, in front of us

we pause, and move on,

changed.

the dish trail

the dish vibrates in synchrony

with messages from the stars

if only we could understand them

mother and son

we started drinking at 10 am at the winery

having passed through verdant meadows

climbed up hillsides and across running streams

this was our reward

my reward, to be with my son, 

towering over me, so full of life, 

the confidence of youth, the optimism 

in new love,

and yet, he worries, too

about the future and what it holds

for him and his generation

for this, I am very sad.

OK, it's time

OK, it's time...

it's been thirteen years that this lad has hung about,

a never ending big smile, that adorable gap in his teeth.

he's the one that informed me that people who write emails 

at 3 am need to sort a few things out,

tortured is not his thing.

ok, so I stumbled across this picture somewhere

in a random pile on my deska and figured,

it's time that this young lad, sporting a few greys now...

had a place on my office bookcase, amidst

those of my rabbit and my kids.

it's been a long wait.