Move Again

Move again?
I can handle that.
That's why I always
wear my hat.

Creative

I tell my husband my ideas; some are smart, some just wild.
He says "Don't quit your day job!" as he smiles at our child,
and "Go for it! You're home, so what are you afraid of?"
I get to be a mom and I get to be a creative.

What About Ourselves

We make our homes beautiful
to sell them.
And what about ourselves?

Many Places Like Home

They say there's no place like home.
But I've found many places that are like home.
I just haven't found the place that is home.

Back

Once again, we're back.
Time to rest, unpack,
and tell myself, once again,
not to get too settled in.

Enough Is Enough

We spend so much time working
to pay for things to take up the time we are not working.
In the free time we buy, we shop, we sort, we fix, we clean,
we use, we move, we dispose of, and finally we scream,
"Enough is enough!
Let's stop with the stuff!
Let's work for what's needed
and live just to love!"

I Will Not Start

I will not start another book
until I've finished this.
I will not blow the candles out
until I think my wish.
I will not cook another meal
with all these half-meals in the fridge.
But I will start another day
no matter what yesterday did.

Ode to Kitchens

A place to heat, a place to cool,
a place for goose or greens or gruel,
a place for kindness and for kin,
a place to start each day again
with coffee from the coffeepot.
A kitchen is a lovely spot.

An Eye

I'm developing an eye for what it all comes down to.
I can know without a sigh the bottom line.
There's some things that I've regreted, but to know where this is headed
helps me see a little clearer in this time.

This Time

This silence is a welcome rest.
This space is where I think.
This time is like an empty cup
that's filled up to the brink.

Out of Place and Time

A place for everything and everything in it's place.

Where do I put the bag of baby clothes 

I washed and folded and packed and labeled

the day before we heard about their miscarriage?

There is no place for that.

We have no room for grief.

I've never seen a shelf for this sort of thing 

in a house in a magazine

or in a book called "Interior Design for Dummies."

For it is wisdom, not fashion,

that remembers that life involves death

and needs a time as well as a place for everything.

Louder

Louder every morning,
the birds sing in the trees.
They are louder than the chickens,
and that puts my mind at ease.
And they're louder than the footsteps
that go across my ceiling
and they're louder than my worries,
and that gives me a good feeling.

Holding Pattern

We're in a holding pattern,
not sure where to land,
and we're not just going to settle
for just any patch of sand.
We're not planning how to crash;
we're not running out of fuel.
We are looking how to ground ourselves
to work towards earth's renewal.

Random

Thank God the state of my house doesn't determine the state of my soul,
because no matter how hard I try, they both are beyond my control.
Interior design wouldn't make me more alive, righteous or wise.
I think I'll label this shelf "random" just so I feel organized.

When We Get Back

Home again, home again,
unpackity-pack.
There's lots of unpacking
when we get back.
And laundry, and emails,
and four-hour naps.

Home again, home again,
unpackity-pack.

Why Live Anywhere

We want to know where you will live
but you have no reply to give.
You could settle here or there.
You could live just anywhere.

Why live, why live,
why live anywhere?
We seem to land just where we fall.
It matters a lot, but hardly at all.
We go on living wherever we are,
so settle near or settle far.

Just have a reason to be there--
but why live anywhere?

And here we are in this here town

that is, for now, our stomping grounds,

but we could move a hundred miles

to the same stores, and streets and styles.

But here we have family and friends,

some roots, some length, and some split ends.

If those things are what life's about

we'll find them within and we'll find them without.

So why live, why live,
why live anywhere?
We seem to land just where we fall.
It matters a lot, but hardly at all.
We go on living wherever we are,
so settle near or settle far.

Just have a reason to be there--
but why live anywhere?

If you ask this question too,
let's move together to a big commune,
and find life's meaning and relocation's end
but even there, we'd miss our friends.


So why live, why live,
why live anywhere?
We seem to land just where we fall.
It matters a lot, but hardly at all.
We go on living wherever we are,
so settle near or settle far.

Just have a reason to be there--
but why live anywhere?

Morning Coffee

I hope you made good tips last night,

because I sure missed you.

And if you'd come home early,

to be sure I would have kissed you.

But here you are, my favorite sight,

next to me by morning light.

However you did, you've done what's right.

Here's some coffee to assist you.

Jail

Some people try to go to jail just so they can freeload.
I've heard of that, and I'm sure it's rarely true.
Rare because, although we all hate to be busy,
in jail we'd make escape plans just for something to do.

Get Up and Go

Our baby's always on the move.
She wants to get up and go
but no place is safe for her.
We watch the news and want to move,
to leave, to get up and go
to someplace other than earth.

Coming Home

Today I woke in my own bed.
A to-do list formed in my head.
Check the chickens, check email,
Follow my own paper trail.
Go through notebooks stacked in piles.
Turn them into labeled files.
Wash the diapers. Wash the clothes.
And then I'll think of more, I know.
First: breakfast and then take a shower.
Write three little poems.
Coming back to a list like this
means I'm coming home.