When I am feeling depressed and anxious sullen
all you have to do is take your clothes off
and all is wiped away revealing life’s tenderness
that we are flesh and breathe and are near us
as you are really as you are I become as I
really am alive and knowing vaguely what is
and what is important to me above the intrusions
of incident and accidental relationships
which have nothing to do with my life
when I am in your presence I feel life is strong
and will defeat all its enemies and all of mine
and all of yours and yours in you and mine in me
sick logic and feeble reasoning are cured
by the perfect symmetry of your arms and legs
spread out making an eternal circle together
creating a golden pillar beside the Atlantic
the faint line of hair dividing your torso
gives my mind rest and emotions their release
into the infinite air where since once we are
together we always will be in this life come what may
Instant coffee with slightly sour cream
in it, and a phone call to the beyond
which doesn’t seem to be coming nearer.
“Ah daddy, I wanna stay drunk many days”
on the poetry of a new friend
my life held precariously in the seeing
hands of others, their and my impossibilities.
Is this love, now that the first love
has finally died, where there were no impossibilities?
Got my new washer & dryer for the new house today! The house is still not officially mine yet, so I had to put them in an outdoor self-storage unit. Well, when I say that “I” had to put them in an outdoor self-storage unit, what I actually mean is that I stood close by while my new friend and one of his sons did all the really heavy lifting as they unloaded the washer & dryer from the back of their pick-up truck, and I said things like, “Oh gosh! Be careful! Don’t hurt yourself!” etc., etc.
Plus it was sleeting out. [Sleet is a noun that is “a form of precipitation of ice pellets, often mixed with rain or snow”, in case you were curious.] Sleet is probably THE very best weather for moving heavy appliances into outdoor self-storage units. So, in the event you want to move a bunch of heavy appliances around outdoors, grab your Farmer’s Almanac to pinpoint the days that will likely have THE very best weather for doing that. Check the months of January and February first; then check the month of March, because torrential downpours and thunderstorms make for a close second when it comes to great weather for moving stuff around outdoors.
I am seriously hoping that this upcoming move will be my last move for a really, really long time.
As an aside: After I drove home from the storage unit — a half an hour away — I was pulling into the driveway of the house I’m currently renting and I realized: OMG! I was only 2 blocks from the new house and I forgot to go over and stare fondly at it!! I’d been so excited this morning that I was going to get to at least drive by the new house again and then I completely forgot to go do it.
The reason I forgot is because I was once again blown away by just how friendly the people are out there deep in the Hinterlands. Not just my new friend and his son being willing to heave a bunch of heavy appliances around for me in god-awful weather, then giving me a big hug and a smile when they said goodbye, but also the owner of the storage facility was on his way out when I came into the office to pay for the month of storage that I’ll need. In a hurry, he said, “Just write down your information on a piece of paper and I’ll mail you a bill you in February.”
None of this “show me all your identification,” and “I have to run a check with your bank first because we’ll need to do an automatic debit of your account,” and “you have to sign all these stacks of disclaimers plus purchase insurance, plus pay tax on all this, plus give us 10 days notice when you want to get your stuff out or there will be another fee,” etc. etc.
No, he’ll simply mail me a billweeksfrom now. He was in a hurry because he also drives a school bus and it was almost time for school to let out. I said, “Wow, you drive a school bus?” He said, “Yes. All my troubles are behind me now…”
“All my troubles are behind me now!”
It took me a minute to get the joke, but when I did, I started chuckling to myself as I walked back to my car. And as I marveled at how friendly everyone was around there, I simply got in the little Honda Fit and headed for home in the falling snow, totally forgetting that I had wanted to gaze fondly at my new house!!
Okay! On that super happy note, I leave you with this super happy 2 minute video! It’s my all time favorite poet, the late Frank O’Hara, reading one of my favorite poems: “Having a Coke with You” (text). Listen and enjoy, gang! And thanks for visiting.
Marilyn's Room 