1. God
2. Soil renewing
3. Full and fuller compost
4. Fine new tools from David
5. Everything beautiful in its time
6. By degrees, eventually
7. The fence
8. Grateful for what we have and for what may come
“I once had a garden. I can remember the smell of the turned earth, the plump shapes of bulbs held in the hands, fulness, the dry rustle of seeds through the fingers.” Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid’s Tale
1. God
2. Putting up the tree
3. Cassie’s greens on the fence, wreaths on the gate and the door, the samovar full of holly and boxwood, the decorated mantelpieces, even the mistletoe in the French doors (which don’t open so maybe/because they don’t speak French.)
4. My father talking about his mother taking him to the good hotel in town for a haircut. He wasn’t sure why they stopped going nor did I learn more about the hotel or his experience, but I don’t think it was like the hotel in Martin Dressler.
5. Arctic air punctuated by a momentary thaw.
6. People whom I will never know and from whose work I benefit
7. Even this language which I don’t fully understand or what I’m seeing and hearing which others see differently
8. as we are
9. Spirits rejoice
1. God
2. Tongues of metal
3. Vibrations among vibrations
4. Escapades
5. Keepsakes
6. Something in the middle
7. Constant expression
8. The room’s fearful symmetry
9. Smiling after exhaling
10. Rainy statue
1. God
2. Rain
3. Rivers
4. Grey
5. Punishing rhythms
6. All the clocks
7. Not yet full, not yet measured sea
8. Boat on the water
“Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing before coffin warehouses, and bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet; and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off—then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.” Herman Melville, Moby-Dick
1. God
2. Family
3. Abundance
4. Hours
5. A liquid crystal sound
6. Someone helpful at the bank
7. U turns
8. Through the rain
1. God
2. Pam, my sister in law, who takes care animals, raises chickens, her voice has a musical sound, she is a survivor.
3. Leslie, also my sister in law, with a wicked sense of humor and adventure, willing to pack up and move across the country.
4. The petunia, brought inside, blooms anew on the windowsill.
5. The man came to fix the disposer.
6. Topia
7. Quiet road
8. The mountain that sits and endures
1. God
2. The chime’s vibrations and inner workings
3. Variations in wood
4. Empty space
5. exhortation to gratitude
1. God
2. Pith
3. Hold
4. Falling leaves and composting
5. The blind lady with her dog in the supermarket (as opposed to a sad heart)
6. The bear playing the double bass
7. The wooden toy of the bears ice fishing
8. Kind words from Jane, also listening as she makes her decision
1. God
2. Varieties of dogs
3. Untied tongues
4. Clock tower
5. Retreaded stairs worth the wait and increasing the light
6. Surprise flowers of November
7. Black 0
“I’ve never found it easy to write. Period. I mean, I don’t want to whine about it or anything but…it’s a bitch! It’s terrible work. I’m very disciplined in that I can settle down into the work situation but coming up with the words is very hard. Hard on the heart, hard on the head and it just drives you mad. Before you know it, you’re crawling across the carpet in your underwear trying to find a rhyme for ‘orange’. It’s a terrible, cruel job. But I’m not complaining.” Leonard Cohen
1. God
2. Unheard songs
3. Radio waves
4. Sitting
5. Walking
6. Wobbling
“I saw a man, a beggar leaning on his crutch
He said to me “Why do you ask for so much?”
There was a woman leaning in the door
She said, “Why not, why not, why not, why not ask for more?”
from “Bird on the Wire,” by Leonard Cohen, as sung by Judy Collins