The switch is turned off. No thoughts. Really? I walk a long and silent hallway looking for my thinking. It’s blank. All the doors are shut. It’s not dark, not light. Behind some of the doors, I suspect thoughts tinker and cobble, mechanisms grind and spin – silently and unseen. I don’t pry.
Daily Fifty-Two: Jul. 11, 2023
The morning light is peaches and cream. The view from my table only changes if I choose to see the change. Blades of grass nibbled down by rabbits. A shrub grows an inch or two. The people in the house next door come and go, come and. Minutes have passed. Days too.
Daily Fifty-Two: Jul. 10, 2023
I don’t want to mention the robin’s song – but there it is like the first lullaby of the night. The darkening sky has that painter’s shade of blue again, a dusty version of cerulean. I close my eyes. I see pink and green silhouettes of famous people decked out in Warhol brights.
He’s a Good Dog
Permanent. That’s the word that stands out. Or was it permanently? I don’t know exactly what words preceded it, surrender, give her up to Paws. Then the woman on the phone said something like bring any toys or blankets or anything to make her feel comfortable. I don’t correct the woman on the phone about…
Daily Fifty-Two: Jul. 9, 2023
It’s late in the day. The sunlight after the rain glints off everything shimmery wet. It’s the yellow sparkle of white wine, the dew drop rolling down green grapes, the condensation on the tilted glass. That’s the freshness of this light. The slow slip of a summer day cooling into pale evening.
Daily Fifty-Two: Jul. 8, 2023
A blue wasp emerges from a hole on the underside of a chair. She drops a neon green bug carcass and crawls back in. A blue wasp emerges from a hole on the underside of a chair. She drops a neon green bug carcass and crawls back in. Seven carcasses so far.
Daily Fifty-Two: Jul. 7, 2023
Six finches hop and flit on the back deck. They crawl through lattice holes in the patio table and chairs. They chase a moth, chase a wasp. Six finches preen and rest and move about. They find the shade, they find the sun. They eventually fly away. No finches on the deck.
Daily Fifty-Two: Jul. 6, 2023
Drop the moon through flannel blue skies and drift away on dream addled clouds. Words swim in purple amniotic seas. In this cracker box house on a saltine shore we replaced all the window shades with butterfly wings. When the sun comes up, we’ll bow our heads and begin the day anew.
Daily Fifty-Two: Jul. 5, 2023
This daily fifty-two compels me. This daily fifty-two propels me. It stalls me, it calls me. It bores me, it chores me. Here, at the end of the day, I have little to say. I’m dull to the world. Day and night have unfurled. And I can’t capture any of it succinctly.
July 4: The Best Year Yet
It’s July 4. I grilled a burger. I sat on the deck and drank a beer. That’s as close to the traditional July 4 celebration as I got this year. By 9pm, I was tired, bored, and ready for bed. As I get older, I care less and less for this holiday. The fireworks, while…
Daily Fifty-Two: Jul. 4, 2023
The morning mower chokes and stalls on thick grass wet from last night’s rain. He walks slowly and in small steps, the man behind the mower, pushing nudging, retreating, and restarting. A different man doing Sunday things on this midweek holiday hammers a board into place. This sunny day is heating up.
A Summer Scene
In the firefly warmth of a summer evening, I stand on the back deck looking for the moon. Backlighting the passing clouds, it hides behind three tall pines. It’s been months since I looked at the stars, though it’s felt like years. A plane slowly winks across the western sky. The bigness of it all…