In September, the tomato plant fell over

In September, the tomato plant fell over.
Seeds in the fruit, weighted, pulled it down.

The marigold closes its orange flower

Rest in natural great peace, this exhausted mind.  
     --Tibetan lama, Nyoshul Khen Rinpoche

The marigold closes its orange flower,
dries into something not pretty
except
it moves beyond pretty
look closely--look; see the new rich seed.

It was news.
It wasn't news.
He loved me.
He loved me not.

The news both was news and wasn't news

The news both was news and wasn't news.
It wasn't news.
It was news.

Today, she is thinking of the drive home, of an on-going wordlessness, and of the pansies, as well as more.

After the news

After the news, the woman bought yellow pansies.
She had to plant something.

The woody stem swallow gets pelted by seeds

The woody stem swallow gets pelted by seeds.
They drop on its head like a pulsing hail.
No matter.
A hydrangea flower attached to the woody stem acts as a bowl.
It is raining gold; the swallow pecks at the new found cache.

Under the feeder is an old hydrangea bush

Under the feeder are large blooms and woody stems from an old hydrangea bush.
There are only four perches on the feeder; three are filled.
The next bird opts for a woody stem below.
In their enthusiasm, the swallows who are eating above spill a lot of seed.
The woody stem swallow gets pelted.

The swallows gathered in the lilac tree

The swallows gathered in the lilac tree with its mildewy leaves.
They looked at the bird feeder, looked around, inched a little bit closer hop by hop.
Who will be the first to visit the feeder?
First one, then two, then three;
Now everyone wants to eat.

All the years

All the years and everything she had been fighting against broke through the thin veil.
She felt so tired it was hard to hold up her head.
Sometimes, when she moved, her body felt like it might black out.

She watched swallows.
First one came, then a fleet.

She sat in the sun with tea

She sat in the sun with tea and with grief and watched light and shadow move across the orange marigolds.

Unravelling

So the tired woman puts bird seed in the backyard feeder
Gives the white cat her evening treats
Brushes teeth
Goes to bed with books
(and grief)

To pursue the end of pain

To pursue the end of pain is the imperative of humanity. ~Alice Sebold

To pursue the end of pain
     like the end of a frayed rope
To one by one unravel the twisted threads

Tomato Seed

I also found truth in a tomato seed that I didn't plant
that grew leaf green and fruit
This tiny little thing that just grew

I found truth in the right-hand corner

I kissed my truth and I watched it fly. --Ferron


I found truth in the right-hand corner of a closet.
It was in a room with a view of a corkscrew bush.
Truth was cards and letters packed in ziploc bags, stacked and leaning into walls.
Truth was what was and wasn't in the corner (and isn't)--
Truth that has been collected.

At precisely 7 a.m.

At precisely 7 a.m., they started hammering
chug chug chug chug chug
knock knock knock knock knock
They will continue like this until after the cows come home