the heat of this night

i stand in a twilit field watching the water ease in, watching flickering bats hunt mosquitoes, watching you prepare to leave again. the water seeps over dry soil, finds every fissure, pours in. the bat careens in circles, appearing and disappearing against a darkening sky, feasting and frantic. you load the last boxes into your…

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present with something burning

you rest in a body of water with fire cupped in your hand. you are a waterfall, grief & change & love, and you are present with something burning. even at rest, your body moves. you are alive to your own changes, casually shedding sparks in the chill night air. when i rise from the…

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between the cracks

once on impulse, i planted a hollyhock seed in a crack between flagstones near the spigot, where the swamp cooler dripped erratically in the summer. the first spring, it put up four small sturdy leaves, and i watered it whenever i remembered. that winter came new love and large changes, and what with it all,…

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Grandfather’s Farm: A Eulogy

I should have asked you to teach me how to sharpen a shovel, change the oil in my car, milk a cow, grow buckwheat. Instead we fought, all down the years, till I moved far away and let distance do my talking. Only since I’ve proved myself, come into my own on our small farm,…

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time is distance and distance is distance

1. time is distance and distance is distance and the heart aches to cross both, yearning across boundaries, loving across boundaries. i build a nest in my heart, furnish it lavishly, comfortably, keep it warm for when you return. you step inside, melting me with a smile and a simple, frank, “i love you,” and…

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