swan

Did you know that the first real exotic bird I saw in Alaska was a swan? Well, two of them anyhow. In a little pond on the way to Denali Park. That was a CRAZY 24 hours landing in Anchorage and then driving north. I was thinking, WHAT HAVE I DONE? 17 years later, I know I did something good.

earring

another earring i find on the floor. this makes 6, i think. i put it back on my desk with the others and wonder, how do they get off the desk? do they jump? do they push each other ala king of the mountain? my 3 year old sticks his head in my room. ‘hi mom’ he says, and now i think i know.

loss

hair loss
weight loss
loss of sight
loss of love
valley of loss
secret loss
loss, the game
l.o.s.s.
the word is starting to look weird to me
in fact the word
i am now at a
loss
for
loss

shelter

under the branches i huddle, my shelter from the weather. a pot of soup simmers on the fire, miraculously dry in the storm. soup? really water, leaves and twigs mixed in a bucket. my tree, the redbud tree out back.

track

i track the words per minute, the correct word sequences, the correct digits, track them all in the hope that in those numbers is an answer to why a brain works differently.

ants

the ants go marching one by one
hurray!
hurray!
and johnny will march home again
hurray!
hurray!
will johnny bring ants?
boo!
boo!
will ants bring johnny?
ooh!
ooh!

flirt

"don't waste your time on that one, reynolds.  i've been flirting with her for years with no avail."
flirting with me?  for years?
i tired of realizing how completely oblivious to life i'd been the past few years.