Retro Anticipation of Sunshine

December 24

RETRO ANTICIPATION AND SUNSHINE

The night after a victory I fret about the blocks.  Will my stance be right?  Will I leave cleanly?  I have been first through the tape.  I have won the race but yet I worry how I will start.  Had I anticipated a win I might have handled the accolades better.  Apprehension has a long half-life and feeds through the night on my gizzard and my dreams.  Failure gives homework, there are rewrites and typos, but checkmate leaves an empty board and hands to shake.  The long ride home is filled with recriminating thoughts of luck and fortune.  By the time I arrive home the win is devalued and no longer mine.  I must pry misgivings from the winner’s circle and enjoy.  These moments in the sun are just as real as any others.

Draw pictures of monsters, then let them lay.

*

Hey Little Sister

Who pulls the trigger, you or I,

in this Shotgun relationship?

Is it more to the point

if you slit my throat or if I slit my own?

I only ask for the sake of expedience,

rudeness was never my intent.

I know we both wish this dilemma resolved

with due speed and precision where possible.

I am not as concerned with my survival

as much as neatness all around.

I hate to leave you with a mess.

I would tuck my tail and go,

but I have tried that before

and still we end up here.

So lets end this shall we

and hope that there are better worlds than this

to find after we have shattered the sugar egg

we used to live in.

Flight 548

December 11

Flight 548

What a happy flight, wing to wing, smiles, good cheer, the air is kind, sweet, dry, easy to breathe. I am so blessed. I fly to destiny watching the traveling baby circus play around me. Giggles and drool surround me, infuse me with glee. People wander the aisle looking like well loved characters from long forgotten books and we soar. Time does not pass any more quickly this way, but it is similar to time in heaven rather than time spent in hell.

Mix jelly with joy

*

RETRO ANTICIPATION AND SUNSHINE

The night after a victory I fret about the blocks.
Will my stance be right?
Will I leave clearly?

I have been first through the tape
I have won the race
But yet I worry how I will start.

Had I anticipated a win
I might have handled the accolades better.

Apprehension has a long half-life
And feeds through the night
On my gizzards and my dreams.

Failure gives homework,
There are rewrites and type-O’s
But checkmate leaves an empty board
And hands to shake.

The long ride home is filled with
Recriminating thoughts of luck and fortune.
By the time I arrive home
The win is devalued and no longer mine.

I must pry misgivings from the winners circle
And enjoy these moments in the sun
They are just as real as any others.

Relay

December 4

Relay

I have waited so long for the chase, the trap, the dig a ditch for safety, to be over and here we are; ringed, safe and surrounded. Now the sweet work of living the life we have striven for, striven to. I now long to be my best, do my best, for you are the best for me and I am the best for you. I tense and press against the blocks; the race I wish to run, but all I knew was to wait.

Explain how petals are different from leaves

*

YOU ARE ALLOWED TO CLOSE WINDOWS

OR KEEP THEM OPEN

Not every open window offers a warm and welcome breeze.
There are windows, which greet with arctic blast and little else.
Frosted cheeks and chapped lips I face these frigid openings
Believing it is my lot to forge ahead in this bluster.

Never did I think to shut the glass on this disagreeable weather.
I am allowed to close windows but I didn’t know it.
Every irksome thing that comes my way is not mine to face.

Many things will pass my way.
This does not make them my responsibility
On the other hand, when spring blows honeysuckle through the air
It is a fine idea to prop the window open with a stick.