Archive | April 2015

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Question of the day:

How did Hemingway write
with all those six toed cats milling about
lying on his tablet
chasing his pencils off the table
spilling his scotch on fresh copy
driving him mad relentlessly demanding attention?

Perhaps their added toes made them more polite
than His Majesty Emil Catt the First.

INVENTORY.1 4/28/15

I lost Julie’s old red with its long, arching canes,
and the big pink I planted just last year.
The miniature blush Jeri gave me when Ruth died
finally gave up the ghost; it’s tiny stems brittle.
I see no life in Moonshadow out front
(but I hear Cat Stevens in my head)…
and the David Austin damask is gone.

Nevertheless…
Heirloom, Evelyn and Prince are sprouting fresh red growth!
The thorny prairie growth that came up uninvited fifteen years ago
is bristling with new leaves amongst its orange hips, and Hansa, Meidland and another couple scragglers whose with crimsom and fuscia blooms are giving a stretch on the hill.

Oh! and the ever returning carpets are ready to give it a go.

Roses.  Check.

FURY

It was two years ago in March that I heard the concern, had the biopsy,
saw the tumors in my breasts looming on a bright screen.
I went blind with white hot RAGE!
Do not psychoanalyze me,
or sympathize,
or empathize!
No compromise!
Cut them off!
Do it!
Now!

rJo Herman
4/26/15

Five years ago now   4/24/18

Nine years 2022

AWE ON SANTA FE

I saw an eagle yesterday
high above the road
wingtips curled as he flew against the wind
I almost crashed my car
not wanting to miss the chance
to watch royalty pass by

rJo Herman
04.26.2015

OKAY! I’M UP!

4:30 AM
Emil Catt, howls, yowls, desperate.
AUGH, Catt!  Shut Up!
I refuse to get up,
pull up the covers,
bury my ears in the pillows.
He yowls louder, non-stop.

EMIL! QUIET!
IT’S TOO EARLY!

5:20 AM
I throw back the sheets, grump up.
EMIL!
Not under any bed,
EMIL!
Not in the front closet,
Not on the porch,
Not somehow in the fridge,
Not stuck in the basement,
NO where, yet his howling persists.

GAWD! WHERE ARE YOU?
To hell with it.
I brush my teeth,
put on my coffee,
gather clothes from the end of the bed to toss into
THE LINEN CLOSET!
OF COURSE!
Shut in the linen closet!
Snooped in the hamper.
fell asleep…auuughhh!

rJo Herman 4/26/15

FIVE

Day five slipped by, as most days will…

Up early

Hello to the neighbors as I left for work

Spilled my entire cup of coffee down the front of my shirt before I even turned on my computer

Wore my jacket zipped up all day

And took guff for hanging my “laundry” from the coat hook in my cube, tsk,

<shrug>  Made for conversation.

Approved seven loans to close for happy buyers, sellers, loan officers and Realtors

Discussed a metes and bounds legal description with anyone who would listen until they agreed.

My Juliana Marie emailed an hilarious reminder of when she was young and rash

My wild child, now the world’s most conservative, hardest working mother…

Home ’bout seven

Hello to the neighbors before closing the door

“Loving this weather, eh?”

Ate something or other

Watched telly

Bed before ten

*     *     *     *     *

“Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”

<selah>

RISEN!

I have often marveled at how gently Jesus appeared to those He loved

That bright Sunday morning.

He spoke kindly to Mary who sought His body in His empty tomb

“Why are you weeping?”

He did not rush her; gave her time to realize, to see Him

“Mary!” She turned. “Teacher!”

He promised “My peace I give you,” to His apostles shuttered in fear,

Showing them His hands.

He met Thomas at the point of Thomas’s disbelief, knowing he needed proof.

And Thomas did believe.

He walked to Emmaus discussing His death and events with two sad followers,

Until their eyes opened.

Imagine how it freaked them out, how shocking to their psyches, mind blowing,

Jesus dead, then alive.

Imagine now how His wisdom and grace softened the shock, helped them focus

On their true mission.

Believe it or not, something incredible did happen over two thousand years ago

The charge remains unchanged…

Spread His story to whom will listen, heal the sick, love one another,

Share the Word everywhere,

So all who believe it may find their way without fear or despair

For He is alive!

LUNAR

The pre-eclipse moon

blazed my windows

tormented my sleep

forced me up

to marvel wildly

at insane brightness

then drove me

back to sleep

to sweet dreams

I awoke late

to daytime magic

with no shadows

no heavy sadness

only bright sun

sharp cool air

laughs with friends

dinner with Grands

and total satisfaction

ON READING THE ATLANTIC, APRIL 2015

The cover cannot be ignored

“Is It Time for the Jews to Leave Europe?” by Jeffrey Goldberg

Cracked concrete Star of David artfully centered in grey on grey

Surely this is an historical piece

Surely not a report on conditions in the twenty-first century

Surely not

The truth cannot be ignored

The Diaspora is real with horrifying implications foreign to my naïve WASP mind

Jews wherever they are in the world are under scrutiny and torment from bigots

Surely this is merely myth

Surely not a truth about a people living in the twenty-first century

Surely not

The evidence cannot be ignored

Historical traditions of hate and fear and lies exist despite attempts to progress

Ancient habits conspire to keep an entire people counted, collected, controlled

Surely this is unbelievably wrong

Surely not a possibility with all the brilliance and wisdom available in the twenty-first century

Surely not

Surely not, Lord.

APRIL SECOND TWENTY FIFTEEN

Cheating with haiku

in order to meet my goal

one poem each day