Go Jiggy

A tulip's fresh opened petals;
A crumpled kleenex, still damp;
A card with sincerely expressed emotions;
A million pictures of her;
These are the sights.

The sniffling of your mother;
The barking of dogs at every additional doorbell ring;
The ringing-ringing-ringing of the telephone;
The singing of her broken-hearted friends;
These are the sounds.

A lifetime's worth of flowers;
A loaf of freshly baked bread;
A meaty chili on the floor;
A spritz of her Juicy perfume;
These are the smells.

The hug of your too skinny mother;
The feathery petals of flowers;
The curly matted hair of a dog
The cold feeling of metal from her necklaces;
These are the touches.

These are the sensations of grief.
But I'm glad for them.
I'm glad for the splashes of color,
In an otherwise expanse of gray.


Dedicated to Jocie Garlick.

turn of the drill

I just returned from the sadist, oh I mean the dentist; and I couldn't help, as I sat there under anesthetic and drills, but ponder the sexism of that profession. I have never met a female dentist or orthodontist, and furthermore, I've never met a male dental hygienist. Why is this?! In school, I went to school with many pre-med, pre-dent students, and looking back, I never met a female pre-dent student, though I met many, many female pre-meds. What?! Sexism is alive and well, and in your mouth. Even if there are female dentists out there, there must be very low numbers for me to never have encountered even one....

I also couldn't help but detest the kindly older man drilling on my cavities. I kept telling myself, "This is your own fault, not his." And yet, I couldn't remember having done anything wrong. It couldn't be the fault of delicious, delicious candy! No, it must be Dr. Badger's fault. Cruel, cruel man.

Argh. And now my anesthetic is wearing off, I'd better go swallow a bottle of Advil.

my only sunshine

As I woke up this morning the sun peaked over the mountains and winked at me. "Go back where you came from," I whispered to her. "Bob and I are having a wonderful morning here together. Leave us be for another moment or two, won't you please?"

The sun smiled and drew dark clouds around her like a blanket. "As you wish," she smiled coyly at me. Suddenly, the brilliant morning sky went dark and the last bit of sun was covered up with dark clouds. I smiled thinking of the extra time we'd have to cuddle when suddenly, it began to snow; large ominous flakes of snow on our newly exposed lawn. There would be no spring cleaning of the yard today.


As I realized my folly, I heard the sun chuckling as from a far distance, "As you wish..."

spring is for lovers

I was driving home on Friday, and was stopped at a traffic light. I saw a young couple holding hands and giggling; happy to be out in the warm spring air, happy to feel the sun on their faces, happy to be falling in love.

I couldn't help but think of the spring in which I feel hopelessly in love. Oblivious to the harsh world around me, I was lost in the grandeur of finding the person in the world that I mesh the best with.


Spring is for lovers.