It’s not small.
It overwhelms.
Unending paper piles
proliferate in the night.
A day’s work
becomes a week’s.
Somewhere under there
is order,
but it will take more
excavation.
.
.
.
I’ve been cleaning and re-organizing my office space. Made some progress after a week, but it’s not there yet. Arg.
What task do you have that seems to expand when you’re not looking?
I light blue and white candles
bake cardamom spiced breads
and remember a home
far away.
.
.
.
Today is the 97th anniversary of Finnish independence.
hyvää itsenäisyyspäivää kaikille suomalaisille
Runo Suomeksi:
Itsenäisyyskynttilät
pulla
muistan
ja olen ikava sinulle,
Suomen maa.
,
(I was an exchange student in Finland when I was 18. I have been back a couple of times, but I’m still waiting for my Finns to come visit me in Canada!)
She was wrapped up in herself
and he had a bad rap
But they were enraptured
and joys they unwrapped.
,
,
Some wordplay this afternoon, just for you!
Teen-agers are
loudly gregarious.
Their laughter magnified by tousles.
People who are afraid of them,
would not be, if they saw them
collapsed upon my drama room floor
giggling like so many puppies,
or arguing about their favourite authors
around the tables in the library.
Though even wolves
are adorable
when they’re little.
Quiet crept
through rustling leaves,
soft snowfall.
Quiet crept
through murmurs heard
under our hearts.
Quiet crept
through gentle touches
sweet sighs.
Quiet crept
through me
to you.
And so your words come slowly,
squeezed like frozen toothpaste;
they do not echo;
they fall with a dull clunk.
.
And so your words come slowly
like a sail boat becalmed;
they hover over her,
dark storm on the horizon.
.
And so your words come slowly;
she watches them
approaching from the distance
like a prairie dust storm.
.
Your
.
words
.
c o m e
.
s l o w l y.
Ice blue skies
white ground
I see the breath
of passers by.
Today I’ll hide
warmly dressed
snuggling next to you
by the fire, inside.
I wake to
the gentle snores
and the warm back
of my canine companion,
whose black eyes blink
and sleepy tail thumps once
as I caress his white wooly side.
There is security,
profoundly deep,
knowing that whatever
needs to be done
will be done,
without me having to ask.
.
There is gratitude,,
profoundly deep,
knowing that whatever
I need
will be met,
without argument.
.
There is peace,
profoundly deep,
knowing that whatever
happens, I can trust you,
to be there.
The
rasping
scraping
roaring
splattering
of the snow plow
going past,
wakes me rudely
to awareness of
winter’s arrival,
as I slept.
Shawn L. Bird 