SUNDAY NIGHT, I LIE IN BED

Sunday night, I lie in bed,

tomorrow’s work will come too soon.

Saturday, I basked in warm sun.

Tonight, the wind whips round the eaves.

Though almost April,
cherry blossoms have not yet formed.

Spring seems to be elusive.

I think of a day two springs ago,

hold the memory tight lest it blow away. 

MEDITATION

Silence soft in prayer-clasped hands—peace settles.

Release nettled thoughts and

sift away time’s dull demands.

Worries, naught but grains of sand.

FORTUNES 2014: FEBRUARY

You will have a pleasant trip.

You are careful and systematic in your business arrangements.

Wish you happiness.

You look happy and proud.

You will travel far and wide for both pleasure and business.

Your heart is pure, and your mind clear, and soul devout.

Your charming smile is attracting everyone around you.

FORTUNES 2014: JANUARY

I'm starting up a new compilation of fortunes from fortune cookies, each recorded in the order received.  Reactions to the "found poem" for 2013 were positive, so I thought I'd do it again.  This year, rather than posting once and updating through the year, I'm going to break the list into monthly installments.  And the end of the year, I'll post the full year's worth as a single entry.


FORTUNES JANUARY 2014

You have an active mind and a keen imagination. 

You will be showered with good luck.

You are gifted in many ways.

You have a friendly heart and are well admired.

You are a bundle of energy, always on the go.

Simplicity and clarity should be your theme in dress.

Your life will be happy and peaceful.

You will attract cultured and artistic people to your home.

You will attract cultured and artistic people to your home.

A pleasant surprise is in store for you.

You will travel far and wide for both pleasure and business.

A nice cake is waiting for you.

A Weekend of Poetry, Prose, and Memories of Saipan

I attended two poetry readings and open mics this weekend-- Patuxent Arts Bridge's event on Saturday at Arts in the Glen in Glenwood, MD, and the Town Square series in Hampden, Baltimore on Sunday.  Both were well-attended events.  Patric Pepper, Jenny Keith, and Barrett Warner were the featured readers at Patuxent Arts Bridge's reading.  Patric read a few poems from his collection Zoned Industrial, which tends to focus on the lives and work of blue collar workers, as well as a few from an as yet unpublished collection.  Jenny's poems took on a variety of subjects, but all in a strong voice, images, and wonderful choice of words.  Barrett read a new autofiction piece based out of his recent experience recovering from tuberculosis.  It was, in a word, incredible.  Okay, three words:  incredible, magnificent, enthralling. 

I read two pieces during the open mic:  Jessup and Thoughts While Sitting Along the Lower Potomac.

At Town Square on Sunday, the featured readers were Arin Greenwood and Timmy Reed.  Arin read an excerpt from her novel Save the Enemy.  Timmy read a few poems and an interesting piece about holes, written in an objective, academic style, as if prepared by an anthropologist from another world who is trying to make sense of why people dig holes.  Arin, as it turns out, spent 5 1/2 years on Saipan.  We shared a few memories of Saipan (I was there for four days in June 2007).  I bought her novel Tropical Depression which is set partly on an island modeled after Saipan. 

I read three poems during the open mic:  Four Geographers Find the Quintessential Baltimore Rowhouse, Walking Along U Street, and Potomac River:  Sunday Morning.  Arin really liked Walking Along U Street and offered to pitch it to the editors of the Huffington Post DC blog even though they don't include poetry on the blog (she's an editor for Huffington Post DC).  Alas, the editors of the blog said no. 

FOUR GEOGRAPHERS FIND THE QUINTESSENTIAL BALTIMORE ROWHOUSE

There were painted screens,
two up, one down,
each  with a quiet country scene
of trees, stream, and deer,
from which to look out
onto the concrete and asphalt.
And formstone, of course

(the polyester of brick, as John Waters put it),

because even fake stone is classier
than the porous brick that sweats and weeps
behind so many Baltimore façades.
A ceramic cat clung motionless

between the two upper windows,

as if uncertain to which screen to leap,
and which deer might make a better meal.
And, there was an old woman

who came out onto her proud marble steps,
imperious in her floral house dress,

and asked “Why are you taking pitchers of my house, hon?

It’s my neighbors who’ve been causing problems.”