the back burner

weather shots

These shots just in from Dad. They're allegedly pictures from Katrina (hurricane that hit the Caribbean and United States in the fall of '05), but I distrust any non-verifiable info I get from forwarded emails. Who knows?

Wherever they're from, the pictures remind me of North America. I miss the big, stormy fronts and 30 degree swings in temperature. Things are calmer, here. We've seen some intense rainfall lately, but local weather patterns are more often dismally moderate: a bit of rain, a bit cold, a bit warm, a bit dry.

I don't want to say that I miss natural disasters. I just like how nature breaks in on our comfortable lives. It reminds me that I'm a creature.

contractions

"I'monna"

I just checked my email and there it was, sitting in a note from one of our interns. How loose do we get with our contractions before they become onomatopoeia?

To be honest, though, deep down inside I love this.

feeling it

there are trams
moving away from me
i see them
in the near distance
too far to chase
too near to expect
another one's coming
through this orbit

it seems things
move towards me
and move away
while i am always
stationary and passive
feeling the ebb
of experience and
the flow of the future

i am a filter
of unimaginable
complexity

between my bones
are memories of rain
the feeling of another
person's hair
impressions lodged
as if by chance
too large to pass
through my frame
unremembered

the pavement
moves beneath me
i cannot call it
walking
more like
watching the tide

the city pushes up
against my feet
brushes past my skin
and pours towards me
sweeping along
like music getting closer
then receding
leaving a wistful
resonance

space moves
while i remain inert
a fixed lump
approachable
but easily forgotten
lying at the center
of the universe
listening to planets