A Letter

Avoidance of annoyances repeatedly

Life remains in narrowed preferences

I know some words to add, some experiences 

To relate, must not let them fade away

I open my eyes in the morning

Utter my first intelligent thought

A praise may be or a prayer

To see, not necessarily to understand

Not inquisitive but to experience

Is it too late now to find the reason

For not knowing?

My relationship ends unexpectedly

Without any arguments or strained voices

A decent separation, not devoting time

To keep each other’s attention

The dinner loses the delicious taste

We become monuments to each other.

Sometimes one has to cross a perilous river

To deliver a letter of forgiveness.

note: I finished reading Piranesi by Susanna Clarke and Kant’s Little Prussian Head & Other Reasons Why I Write, an autobiography in essays by Claire Messud.

I’m reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke which I started reading a long time ago but never finished and For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway. All these long reads in the time of Covid.

My Wednesday

Musing over a cup of coffee

Have you seen a cat weeping?

Or a thirsty squirrel?

A pause, practice deep involvement

From a splendid height

A kestrel watches

Graceful speed, finesse.

Lots of letters to answer

Diminish the clutter

Walk softly on the circled path

You live, find meaning

Practice virtues

Not incomprehensible

Even if you live in Istanbul or Damascus

Or in time of pandemic

Each day can be of gratitude.

Art does not explain

You experience beauty or riddle 

Or something significant.

The View from a Window

The bougainvillea greets me abundantly 

like when I enter our kitchen 

scent of fish stew on simmer 

fills my senses

The fountain attracts attention

of squirrels carrying acorns 

hiding in our neighbor’s redwood tree . 

Will they be thirsty?

One lone umbrella and a table  

near a bed of roses 

like a fly fisherman standing alone 

in a  mountain stream

A white a statue sits on the wooden fence. 

It moves, has wings. It’s an egret.

I hear  hurried steps on the stairs and a voice.

Kaylee? Is that you?

It’s June. Everyone

is coming home.

My Monday and Tuesday Walk

The sky is blue. The air quality is good. The white egret is back and stays with the fishermen.

The flowers are blooming. I have my shadow selfie.

The walk is invigorating. It beats the pandemic isolation.

Promenade

It’s Friday and a very warm day. At the moment it’s 100 F degrees. I went to our county library to pick up a book this morning when it was only 85 degrees. 

Afterwards I went to the promenade along the riverfront. On my return walk I passed through the hotel corridor leading to the 2 restaurants in the hotel complex.

I took a few photos of fresh and dried hydrangeas and few other things.

Bye

I look up the sky and predict how my day will be

Glorious if blue, deluge if black

If the monarch butterflies are migrating

The sky may be dark

Or white with all the beautiful cloud formations

I can get my camera and take photos

And make an album

I learn that I have to know more than the sky color to survive

Life is tough and dangerous and fun

Or I may end up in Hollywood

And become rich or an addict

Preferably I should learn how to negotiate a roundabout

It could mean life or death

Well I have to go

My partner is waiting

We have to go to the forest to pick mushrooms

Bye.

My Monday and Tuesday Walk

note: The book I finished reading, The Salt Path by Raynor Winn. It’s a story of loss and redemption, courage and perseverance, humain frailties, survival and acts of kindness. It’s a love story. An inspirational story.

Surprise

A bird flies inside a house then struggles to get out

Open the door, open the windows

Sounds like a flag in the pole snapping with the wind

Frantic almost insane then the bird finds the open window

A young boy looks, follows the bird’s flight

Happens so quickly like lightning on a summer afternoon

He sits down and thinks:

How should I welcome the unexpected?

Could life be different or better?

ANYWAY

taken from Diary of a Word Nerd:https://www.juliatomiak.com