There is only one way in or out.  You must go up or down the stairs right past Esmee’s grandmother’s and mother’s front door.  If you time it right she will be taking a nap, and you can escape.  However,  if she is awake… if she hears you… she comes for you.  

~selah~

6/25/2020  rJo Herman

Nothing to do

Nowhere to be

No one to talk to

No one to see

I stand on the balcony throwing pine cones at the squirrels stretched out on the branches within reach of my zucchini pots.

I have lousy aim.

They just look at me.

Six blooming lindens line the sidewalk near the church just beginning to emit that sweet linden fragrance. Can you smell it?

The fresh morning air is sharp and cool; my long sleeved T feels good. All will be blazing hot later, wilting the leaves on the new zucchini midday

The Beatles surge in my head, “Here comes the sun, deedle dee da…” and up it comes, and I turn home to shut the windows, turn on the fans, wait for the cool of the evening.

6/8/2020 rJo Herman

why am I surprised

to see her mom on crutches?

kicked by her wild girl

I am white.

I cried to see the murder of this man on the internet.

My stomach still churns, days later.

When a child, I was taught to respect my elders,

to respect my peers and my superiors,

to respect my neighbors, ALL my neighbors,

to celebrate all our differences,

to acknowledge our similarities,

to live

and to let live.

I believed everyone was taught the same basic principals.

I believed everyone should live and let live always…and that everyone believed that.

Now I am old.

I have come to know that all the learning in the world

cannot, will not, does not ensure safety, respect for basic decency.

I understand that all the belief and trust in others can prove to be poorly placed. That the life I have lived and live is different than the life of others, that common sense as I know it exists in my vaccuum.

I have no idea what can be done, because I do not understand how evil is allowed to exist by God Almighty. I cannot grasp how one man can kill another so coldly, blindly…

Still I believe in God and in Good,

and still I pray for peace.

June 1, 2020 rJoHerman, Littleton, CO