ancestral apples

I picked bushels of apples from the trees my grandfather planted

on our family farm forever ago. I unearthed the old harvest ladder,

and climbed as high as it took me.

I looked down and saw the ghost of my mother, lamenting the rotting apples,

that she would have made into applesauce and pies.

The Yellow Transparents were her favorite. Mine too.

I can taste the tartness of her applesauce, the crisp sweetness of her pies,

in every delicious bite...

Mother Moon

All Saints Day

My Mother's Birthday

Six years gone from this world,

but still keeping in touch.

Waiting.

I Am Waiting

I am waiting for my case to come up

and I am waiting

for a rebirth of wonder

and I am waiting for someone

to really discover America

and wail

and I am waiting

for the discovery

of a new symbolic western frontier

and I am waiting

for the American Eagle

to really spread its wings

and straighten up and fly right

and I am waiting for the Age of Anxiety

to drop dead

and I am waiting 

for the war to be fought

which will make the world safe

for anarchy

and I am waiting for the final withering away

of all governments

and I am perpetually awaiting

a rebirth of wonder

I am waiting for the second coming

and I am waiting

for a religious revival

to sweep thru the state of Arizona

and I am waiting

for the grapes of wrath to be restored

and I am waiting 

for them to prove

that God is really American

and I am waiting

to see God on television

piped into church altars

if they can find 

the right channel 

to tune in on

And I am waiting 

for the last supper to be served again

and a strange new appetizer

and I am perpetually awaiting

a rebirth of wonder

I am waiting for my number to be called

and I am waiting

for the Salvation Army to take over

and I am waiting

for the meek to be blessed

and inherit the earth

without taxes

and I am waiting 

for forests and animals

to reclaim the earth as theirs

and I am waiting

for a way to be devised

to destroy all nationalisms

without killing anybody

and I am waiting 

for linnets and planets to fall like rain

and I am waiting for lovers and weepers

to like down together again

in a new rebirth of wonder

I am waiting for the great divide to be crossed

and I am anxiously awaiting

for the secret of eternal life to be discovered

by an obscure practitioner

and I am waiting

for the storms of life

to be over

and I am waiting to set sail for happiness

and I am waiting 

for a reconstructed Mayflower

to reach America

with its picture story and TV rights

sold in advance to the natives

and I am waiting

for the lost music to sound again

in the Lost Continent

in a new rebirth of wonder

I am waiting for the day

that maketh all things clear

and I am waiting for retribution

for what America did to Tom Sawyer

and  I am waiting

for the American Boy

to take off Beauty's clothes

and get on top of her

and I am waiting

for Alice in Wonderland

to retransmit to me

her total dream of innocence

and I am waiting

for Childe Roland to come

to the final darkest tower

and I am waiting for Aphrodite

to grow live arms

at a final disarmament conference

in a new rebirth of wonder

I am waiting

to get some intimations

of immortality

by recollecting my early childhood

and I am waiting 

for the green mornings to come again

for some strains of unpremeditated art

to shake my typewriter

and I am waiting to write

the great indelible poem

and I am waiting

for the last long rapture

and I am perpetually waiting

for the fleeting lovers on the Grecian Urn

to catch each other at last

and embrace

and I am awaiting

perpetually and forever

a renaissance of wonder

-Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Off visiting the Hobbit Folk

miniature scenes of Penny Tomson.

Tellluride 2

Telluride Power House, built in 1904 on the

edge of a 1.000 ft. cliff (operational until 1953).

People actually live in it, at least during the

summer months.

Pretty turquoise tailings pond, and me

The first thing you see as you drive into town.

This old shack is a revered artifact, which sits

across the street from a piece of land the townspeople

purchased to prevent condos from being built on it.

Power to the people, yo.

Free Box.

Telluride

Dog days of summer are long gone. It was sweater weather in Telluride this weekend.

Telluride, Colorado is a little ski town that sits between huge, in-your-face mountains. It is a highly relaxed community of bike riders, mountain athletes, a well-known celebrity here and there, and most noticeably, more happy dogs than you can shake a stick at.

We went to soak in more Colorado mountain magic before the winter comes. We ended up soaking in a little more than that, however-- on Sunday we experienced a stupendous thunderstorm, which drove us into the local bookstore and coffee shops, where we listened to the thunderclaps echoing off the cliff walls of the valley....

#9 Dream

A tribute to the affinity I have with #9

I am the 9th child,

born in the 9th month

and I have had 9 lives (at least).

Happy 09/09/09!

The Ol' Lone Ranger

Old sign posts outside Rifle Colorado, on route 13

on our way home from Land's End. 

Rifle is an old western town, full of tumbleweeds, cowboy hats, and whiskey bars. I imagined I saw the Lone Ranger hitchhiking at the freeway on-ramp heading out of town-- Silver and Tonto, nowhere in sight.

Owls at Land's End

We drove up a washboard road to the top of a 10,000 ft. high mesa, at Land's End, Colorado this week-end. It was my boyfriend's birthday and he was hoping to fly off it (in his paraglider--not a cape) the next morning, but unfortunately we woke up to light rain and strong winds (not good for flying). Land's End is the western edge of Grand Mesa, which is the largest mesa in the world-- over 500 sq. miles of forest and pastures at an elevation of 10 to 11,000 ft.

We were awakened by a chorus of owls in the trees surrounding our tent. Varying in pitch and tone, it sounded like an urgent meeting between several members of the owl hierarchy- one sounding very stern, a younger one complaining, and other interested parties chiming in with random hoots. I had never heard more than one owl call at a time in my life. It was both comical and magical, at once-- I wish I had a recording of it to wake up to every morning. I tried to get my camera from the car, but my stealth was no match for their attention and they flew away. I did spy one of them that landed in a nearby tree. It was a magnificent creature about 2 feet tall. As omens go, it seemed like a good one.

Earn It

 I never was a girl scout. I was done with it after being a Brownie. But, I really love the badges. Unfortunately, you can't just buy them, they have to be earned. I think I could handle this-- as long as I was able to earn them in my own way...

1.  hop a train like a hobo  2. pitch a tent in the snow  3. make friends with Bigfoot 

4. paint designs on the shells of snails and turtles  5. hog tie your big sister  

6. toss around a beach ball in shark infested waters.....