at the blue hole

by kye on June 29, 2010

Here’s a joiku, in honor of a moment at the Blue Hole last week with my small twin great-nieces… seems only yesterday I was feeling my own legs learning how to kick forward exactly like that.

two little fishes:
one outstrips the other
legs kicking just so.

[more joiku here]

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a Rip van Winkle moment with my mother

by kye on June 22, 2010

Her eyes opened, and opened all the way, and stayed open. I said, “this is your daughter, this is Kye” and she nodded once, decisively: “I know that,” said her nod. “Would you like me to tell you the news, or sit quietly with you?” No response. I considered. What was there to lose? I started talking.

Her eyes stayed on mine with total attention. When the news was the kind she likes (“I’m going to go up to see M. this week.”) her face would melt into a quiet little beam. When it was said news (“there’s been a terrible oil spill in the Gulf,” and “the economy is not good”) her forehead creased in distress. She was awake; she knew me; she was there.

Forty-five minutes later? an hour? I asked, “have I worn out your brain?” A rusty little “No” came in response–the first speech I’ve heard in a couple of months. So I told her about what I’m writing (the Tao Te Ching commentary), and her mouth made an ‘oh!’ shape, and she she smiled.

There’s no telling what I’ll find next time I go, but what a miracle and a gift that time was!

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Mangoes!

June 6, 2010

I found mangoes on a street corner a little while ago, on my way back from seeing my mother–a whole box of them, sold to me off the back of a pickup truck up from the Rio Grande Valley. They were sold to me by what looked to be a couple of brothers. They were [...]

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oil spill ways to help: a few more opportunities

May 26, 2010

Since my post yesterday I’ve run across a few more organizations who are crucially involved with the Gulf oil spill in several different ways: American Bird Conservancy is mapping the locations of important bird areas in relation to the oil spill, among other contributions.  They have a detailed page about birds and the spill, including [...]

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oil spill ways to help

May 25, 2010

This is a listing of a variety of specific ways you can help with the Gulf oil spill. In compiling this list, my starting place was the article Heroes needed: how to help the victims of the Gulf Coast oil spill. I’ve added more specific information and live links, to make it easier to get [...]

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for dolphins and dragonflies

May 25, 2010

A joiku for the Gulf’s creatures, great and small… Teeming water world, Our carelessness has touched you. Please don’t die. No. Please live!

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a different way to think about the oil spill

May 19, 2010

Last night I saw video footage of the BP oil spill here and here.  I had already been deeply concerned about it; seeing the footage, I was grief-stricken. At first, I was focused on the horror of it.  I saw that the thing had already happened. I felt the death of all that life very [...]

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permanent vacation

May 18, 2010

I want to tell you about how I relax and also get things done. Last week I found myself saying, ‘I wish I could get away for a couple of weeks!’ A couple of weeks off when I’m ready, might be ideal –but sometimes, for a million good reasons, now really isn’t the time. And [...]

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my lover the wind

May 12, 2010

This is a sort of double joiku, written for the ravishing wind I just came in from: my lover the wind tickles me on this hill top constant if unseen faithful in early summer by August you’ll be gone

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moving at the pace of beauty

May 12, 2010

Catching up on posts to the focusing discussion list this morning, I was delighted to come across a poem that meant a lot to me a decade ago: “The Invitation” by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. I was particularly struck by this: I want to know if you can see beauty, every day… and if you can [...]

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