Beyond the Dark Room

I wanted to let you know about this book particularly because it is so very moving. I am one of the poets in “Beyond the Dark Room,” but that is the very last reason to tell you about it.

It is a profound experience reading this slim book of poems, mostly because it addresses the stages of grieving and recovery, but also because of the way it is arranged. Each of the chapters addresses each of the ten stages of loss and recovery in a logical order, taking the reader from Loss through Grief, Shock and Pain, through Acceptance and finally Love.

I found myself moved and permanently changed after reading the book all the way through. I hope you enjoy it!

Reblogging

I rarely reblog—that is, post a link to another person’s blog—here because, well, this is my blog. ^_^ But a friend posted a wonderful, profound, inspirational post about parenting in general, and mothering in particular, that is a must-read if you are a parent. (I think this goes for stay at home dads just as well as moms.)

It is titled “dear sweet mom who feels like she is failing” and it is perfectly lovely. Enjoy!

http://rachelmariemartin.blogspot.com/2012/08/dear-sweet-mom-who-feels-like-she-is.html

Appointment

The prompt today was to write an appointment poem. I haven’t been feeling my best, and am happy to say I am recovering at last, so I had just the idea for an appointment of worth.

Time is Fleeting

I Have an Appointment

My appointment is with my pillow
and that book I’ve been meaning to read.

It is with that tub of hot water and bubbles
and with the candlelit bathroom and my loofah.

It is with a certain souvenir mug with
the picture of the Yellowstone bear
and with a quantifiable amount of cocoa
with whipped cream
and a sprinkle of cinnamon..

My appointment is with me
because I am just as valuable
to me
as anyone else in my life.

Bubble Bath

Discovery

Written for Robert Lee Brewer’s Poetic Asides prompt – the prompt today was discovery.  I don’t have much time at the moment, but will try to revisit the idea later today.

Will you hold, please?

Discovery

A discrepancy in a bill.
I call and call again.
I speak to people from
other countries,
repeatedly,
and try to remember
their names.

I keep notes.
One said he was named
Jack Dawson.
In a fit of sarcasm, I said,
“Oh really? You survived
the Titanic after all,
Jack?”
(The joke went over his head.)

And on hold
again.
I wonder if one can get
cauliflower ear
from being on a telephone.

I remember the days
before 800 numbers
and online help desks
and internet accounts
and I remember
letter writing campaigns,
which somehow, though
just as frustrating,
were more satisfying
and probably took
about the same amount of time
to get resolution.

Triolet

I felt the need to vent about this summer’s heat and at the same time, felt a poem coming on. The result is the triolet you may find below.

Mid-day glare and heated glance

Apollo, brave Diana’s twin
His mid-day glare and heated glance
Apollo, brave Diana’s twin
He looks without, and she within
Apollo, brave Diana’s twin
His mid-day glare and heated glance
We are given sweet relief when
Her silvery beams upon us chance.

 

Her silvery beams upon us chance

 

Change of Plans – Part II

Must be on a roll today! Here is the third for the prompt today:

Red Hot Chili Peppers

We had good tickets
and we brought money
for souvenirs
and snacks
if necessary
but for some reason
I forgot my migraine medicine,
simply not thinking
for one moment.

The migraine aura began as
we walked toward our seats.
With a slightly panicky
look, my partner knew
something was wrong.

Home (and a dark room)
felt wonderful
but I always felt
so guilty
for my illness,
wrecking our plans
again.

Change of Plans

Today, the prompt at Robert Lee Brewer’s Poetic Asides blog, was to write about a change of plans. I let the idea simmer for about two hours, added a sprinkling of forethought and divided by two and managed to come up with these offerings. ^_^

Men Make Plans, God Laughs

They planned to live together
for a few years,
traveling,
staying at hostels,
seeing the wide world

and then
one morning
she realized she had a touch of
morning sickness
and their plans changed.

So they decided to
get married, and keep
the baby
because having just one child
could still fit into
their life vision
and plans

and then
one day,
during the doctor’s visit,
they realized they were having
triplets
and their plans changed.

So they bought three cribs
and a triple stroller
and painted the bedroom
white and yellow and green
and decided to
just
go with the flow.

***

Too Late to Plan Ahead

So I’m writing the novel,
characters lined up,
plot laid out and
as I go,
the restless characters
rebel.
They seize the plot,
twist it beyond
recognition
and demand
the changes be made.

And they’re good,
better than I
could have dreamed up
alone.

And part of me wonders
how these,
my alter egos,
my creations,
my fairy-dust spun ideas
made of thin air and resolution
have managed to
wrest control from me
so neatly.

Jenny Lawson – The Bloggess

My friend Chris and I went to Jenny Lawson’s book signing this evening. Jenny’s blog, The Bloggess, is one of my favorites because, as she said this evening, she’s realized that she belongs to a tribe — a tribe of people who are just as weird as she is — and it is awesome. If you haven’t read her book, “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened,” you are missing a mostly-true memoir that recounts, in hilarious fashion, her early life with a taxidermist father, her teen and growing up years, and how she ended up becoming the person she is today. And that person just happens to be someone with a huge internet presence through her own blog and through the regular columns she writes for a newspaper in Texas that I can’t remember the name of and which I’m too tired to go look for, but she links the stories on her blog and one of them is about parenting and the other is about sex. Which is actually kind of fitting if you think about it, because you GET kids through sex, so they kind of go hand in hand. But they are also really hilarious. And when I’m having a really long hard day, which happens occasionally, I can count on Jenny to have me happy and laughing again in no time.

And here is a picture of Chris, me, and Jenny. She is super nice, and, in fact, I think we’re best friends now. ^_^

Oh, just me (and Chris) standing next to Jenny Lawson!

And here are some pictures of her doing a reading and answering question. She really is charming, though you should be aware, she cusses. A lot. ^_^ If you don’t mind that, you will probably like her just fine, and if you are weird enough you will love her. ^_^

Oh, and before I forget to mention it, this all took place at the Changing Hands bookstore in Tempe, Arizona. Support Local Business!! (Seriously, it’s important!)

Jenny Lawson Q&A at Changing Hands bookstore in Tempe, Arizona

Jenny Lawson doing a reading at Changing Hands bookstore in Tempe, Arizona

Traffic School & Dead Bodies

I went to traffic school Wednesday, and before you jump to any conclusions as to my driving habits, let me say that I am a very safe driver and that this is the first speeding ticket I’ve ever gotten. I generally stick to the speed limit, do not tailgate, and signal for all turns. BUT I did get caught by a traffic camera, and though I work for lawyers who could have probably gotten me out of the ticket, it seemed like the right thing to do was to say, “Yes, I’ve sped. You caught me. Let me pay my fine like a responsible adult.” So rather than take points on my license, (I had no idea that was even a real thing by the way, I think the only time I’d ever heard that was on the movie “The Fifth Element”) I decided to go to traffic school.

It was 4 and 1/2 hours I’ll never get back. And though the police officer who taught the class (Officer Goodman) was very informative and though he tried to make it interesting, as St. Ignatius said: The safest and most suitable form of penance seems to be that which causes pain in the flesh but does not penetrate to the bones, that is, which causes suffering but not sickness.

So, having suffered and felt pain in the flesh (of my rear sitting on the hard chairs) I will go and speed no more.

But wait, you may ask, did you learn anything?

Well, interestingly, I sort of did. For instance, Officer Goodman was saying that last week two of his officers had found only two bodies in trunks of cars. I gasped, “You mean that’s a real thing?” And he laughed and explained that there are about 300 murders in the Phoenix Metro area each year (not bad for over 6 million people, I suppose) and that the killers often feel that they have to do SOMETHING with the bodies, so pop them in the trunk to take them someplace else to dump.

Can you imagine getting stopped on the freeway when you have an ACTUAL BODY IN THE TRUNK!?!?

Officer Goodman went on to say that the reason he told us that was to point out that you just don’t know the person in the other car driving next to you. They may be just like me or you on their commute, listening to a little Pink Floyd or Kenny Chesney, or they could be someone calming driving to the industrial park with a dead body.

Just another day in the city, people.

Where are you when I need you, Sgt. Friday?

Change, Wrap, Bargain, Bottle & Bear

Our prompt today was to use five words in a poem, so I did what I usually do, and wrote a story. ^_^

Gifts

The cashier handed me my change,
just a few cents left, and I clung
to the last gift I needed to
buy this year. Just a pair of gloves
for my best friend whose hands seem to
be eternally cold; a bar-
gain price, even if it was all
I had left. That plus the bottle

of cologne for my sister and
I was finished with shopping for
another year. And thank goodness
because I didn’t have all that
much to begin with. When would I
learn to start buying in August?
I took full advantage of the
free gift-wrap service; when pennies

are tight, this is just the sort of
thing that saves my bacon again.
Discarding choices of children’s-
themed paper—endless candy canes,
Santas, and cheerful toy teddy
bears—I had them use the standard
store red and green, festive enough
for my few friends and family.

Pushing through the crush on this
dark winter night, I finally
emerged and breathed in deep the cold
air. It had begun snowing while
I was inside, and I felt my
escape from the hive-mind keenly this
night. There to side of the door,
a young woman loitered, her card-

board sign reading simply “please help.”
Without even thinking, I walked
to her, dug out my change, and pressed
the wrapped gift of gloves into her
icy hands. “You should open it now.”
I smiled to myself as I went;
my friend would appreciate this
gift even more than the gloves.