Spring Grows
Maple Start - March 31, 2013 - Portland, OR
Warming air bringing
Abundant life to surface.
Spring's wild abandon.
Sakura Appreciation
Autumn and Spring are my favorite seasons. During Autumn I'm convinced it is my absolute favorite, but then Spring arrives in Portland and the city bursts into a colorful display. When Spring arrives, I'm sure it is my favorite.
Sakura Shrub - April 4, 2013 - Wilsonville, OR
Riot of pale blossoms.
Morning's fragrant greeting
In chilly Spring air.
Bright Primroses
From Sunday's activities in the yard:
Easter Planting - March 31, 2013 - Portland, Oregon
The bright primroses
Lift up their cheerful faces.
Smiling with Spring sun.
No Heroes
Heard Billy Bragg sing Tank Park Salute live tonight. Although it came out 9/10 years before my Dads (step and biological) would die, it is the song I associate with their deaths, less than 11 months apart. Hearing it live is always something of a punch to the heart.
No Heroes
Neither of you
Were ever heroes.
Ever aspired to
Heroics, not
Even in your
Wildest imaginations.
Well, maybe there,
In the wild space
Between sobriety
And inebriation.
Even then, you clung
To safer waters,
Not the unknown
Shoals of bravery.
Still, you were
The closest I had
To an in-person hero.
At the very least
I so wanted you
To be my hero.
All that Remains - April 6, 2013, Portland, OR
In death
I have nothing
To offer.
No songs
To sing.
No salute
In tribute to
Your passing.
Nothing but
Grief
And longing,
Wishing for
The hero you
Never could be.
Never
Tried to be.
Junco Haiku
Poetry from the new house for this month of April, National Poetry Month, must first pay homage to the birds. Particularly the Junco who bravely watch me, but deem me too little a threat to interrupt the eating of seeds as I sit on the deck watching them.
Sparrow & Junco - March 23, 2013 - Portland, Oregon
The Junco come first.
Bold, bright-eyed, always hungry.
Not caring who watches.
On Endings
Drift of Cherry Blossoms - Wilsonville, Oregon - April 30, 2012
Everything changes.
This moment, always turning.
Endings. Beginnings.
Fading Blossom
Fallen Cactus Blossom - Portland, Oregon - April 28, 2012
Fallen, yet still bright.
Last color fading away,
Translucent, lovely.
Watery April Flowers
April showers bring
Flowers bedecked with raindrops,
Bursting with color.
Waterlogged Blossoms - Portland, Oregon - April 27, 2012
Flowers seen along the way, while walking to the bakery.
Friday Gratitude
Water Lily - Conservatory of Flowers, San Francisco, California - October 2003
Sometimes I'm just blown away by my wife, in a good way. Not only does she help me through spots that are really tough for me, but she does it without it feeling like she pushing me along or dragging me a long with her ideas. Plus there's the whole being involved with an adult, someone who really is my partner. Who throws down with the tough shit and just starts getting stuff done.
We each have our own stuff we're working on, which makes things a challenge sometimes. Then there's the stuff that arises out of those raw moments when our own respective history and the baggage chafes together. It is hard, sometimes it is really hard. But I feel like we're really working on it together, as equals.
Today she went and picked up Mom from the hospital since I had 4 meetings sandwiched around teaching yoga... out at my office in the Southern Burbs. She took Mom to her apartment in the Eastern burbs, changed up her pill boxes, redid her insulin, found her walker in the closet, and made sure Mom went down to lunch. Then she made us dinner tonight and we watched a movie I'd wanted to see. Yeah, she's awesome.
Delicate flower.
Pink petals rising from muck.
Stronger than it looks.
More Goslings & Creative Thinking
Spring Goslings - Wilsonville, Oregon - April 26, 2012
CK and I trying to bring some creative thinking to things with Mom. Still in the planning stages, but we have some ideas that we're going to look into to see how feasible they are.
Today at work I took a little break and sat by the stream that runs through the campus. Nearby were some more of the goslings we see each spring, I think there's almost a dozen of them around the campus. Goslings in spring are definitely a perk!
Small feathered beings
Carefully guarded over
By cautious mothers.