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Monday, May 16, 2011

Tempestuous Sky


I’ve been a bad blogger but a good gardener thus far this month. My surgically altered and mending hands have created a veggie garden for my daughter Milo and I to share. They’ve rejuvenated drip lines and sprinklers. They’ve tended all the dahlias and roses painstakingly, and they’ve repotted, transplanted, pruned, and fertilized everything. They've made one gopher R.I.P. They’ve pulled millions of weeds.

I apologize to all my blog friends for neglect. I’ve poured all my energy into the soil and the plants. Six weeks ago the doctor diagnosed a severe vitamin D deficiency and I’ve sought the sun for help. A new anti-depressant, cheap and non-toxic, has solved my insomnia problem, thank God, but it has a grogginess side effect. It’s a time of transition, and I’m happy about an evolution.



One of the transitions involves the world-famous Poetry Bus. It has trundled off to the Bus Yard in the Sky. Its poet riders have formed the worldwide Poetry Jam in retaliation, jamming on Mondays, with our new blog site linking us all. You’re welcome to join in.


This week’s theme is Thunder and Lightning. In a nice synchronicity, my bit of California is enjoying a tad of that this week. However, the muse has gone mum with all the gardening, I guess. So I’ve pulled a stormy piece from the archives to offer as my riff. But first, here’s a little relevant artifact from my family history, invented, perhaps, by my father:

Thunder roared and lightning flashed!
A tree fell down, and a frog got smashed!

And now for some real tempestuous weather. Today is my 19th wedding anniversary, and let it be known that the narrator of this piece is NOT moi.

Invasion

The wind stirs in the leaves of the trees—
sounds like a stream chuckling down a stony shoal
sounds like surf supping at the shore
sounds like kindness if I can conjure that stream, that shore

In truth, menace rises beyond the window
violence edging over the horizon
and stalking this way. I have silenced the radio
and shuttered the television, and now I lie

my eyes closed on the sofa under the window
I have drawn the shade so I am not tempted
to see, may rather remain in my reverie
of the wind susurrant in the sycamores, murmuring

its love for me, and not your red rage roiling
down the road to burst into this house with all the glee
of an invasion, and not your shoddy rape
of what little mercy lives in me, your beloved wife.




Tonight's anniversary supper ended in chocolate decadence cake with lime sauce (for Joe) and creme broule (for me). I now lumber happily off to don elasticized pajamas and ponder wedded bliss...

Photo credits: unattributed work found via Google

16 comments:

RNSANE said...

Happy anniversary, dear Chris!! Maybe you should spend the whole day in bed to avoid any lightning and thunder!

Jinksy said...

"Susurrant" - thank you for that delicious word, and for the rest of that poem - not to mention the squashed frog, or amazing pictures. Nice way to wake me up with a flash!

Brian Miller said...

hands in the soil is probably great therapy chris...i love a good spring thunderboomer...coincidently we had lightning hit our neighbors tree in the middle of the night saturday...about 30 feet from our window...it took a while to peel me off the ceiling...

Bagman and Butler said...

Archives can be treasure troves! Thank you for pulling that one out. It is powerful.

Rubye Jack said...

Powerful imagery throughout your post, particularly with regard to the rape of mercy.

Corinna said...

Congratulations on the garden and the Anniversary! Very poignant poem.

The Bug said...

Wow - my muse has deserted me too, but I didn't have THIS fabulous gem to pull out of my archives. I love its intensity - building like the storm.

I'm glad you're gardening. It's one of the very best things you can do for yourself (says she who doesn't like dirt under her fingernails).

♥ Boomer ♥ said...

Never apologize for doing something that is good for you!!! I always love your work, and waiting for it is worth it. Garden away while you can!

young-eclectic-encounters said...

Happy anniversary- Wonderful to hear you are out in the garden it does wonders for the body and the spirit. I also have severe D deficiency and even had adult rickets. Try the book "The Vitamin D solution book; it tells you when and how much sun to get for where you live. I also supplement and sit under a reptile light that he mentions. it has made a tremendous difference
Johnina ☺☺☺☺☺

Magpie said...

Happy Anniversary! Glad you're out and soaking up the sun and beautifying your little corner of the world.

the walking man said...

I don't understand was the cadence before or after the cake and I would say it was a bit of saucy decadence at that. Nothing wrong with a little treat before your dessert.

jabblog said...

Powerful, indeed.
Congratulations on the vast amount of gardening you have done and your anniversary.

NanU said...

Happy anniversary, Chris!
What a smorgasbord of writing. Love the photos interspersed. The poor frog.

Bagman and Butler said...

What is the theme for next week?

Jess Mistress of Mischief said...

Happy anniversary!

I LOVE big nasty loud and bright storms, and therefore love the passion in the poetry here!

Syd said...

Nice. I hope that it was a good anniversary. That photo is great!