Picnic Table

Heat of your palm

Love is eternal

Form shifts

Tendrils of Belief

 

Tendrils of Belief: Poems 1997 - 2006 

Picks up the adventures of our Baby Crone five years after Sappho’s Delights. No longer a maiden, she embraces motherhood, becomes a gay divorce, and moves from retail therapy to hypnotherapy. Spanning almost a decade, here is more scrumptious food for thought, nuggets to savor and relish. Inspired by Adrienne Rich’s, On Lies Secrets, and Silence, these tender tales continue a quest into a deeper knowing of self, family, and community. Prayers, meditations, affirmations, and some lamentations.

Ring of Fire

Sun streams through slats,

Blinding white.

Almost hostile,

Stabbing my eyes,

I reach for the twisty thing.

    Dust motes twinkle,

    As I spread Mom's old quilt.

    Tattered blue jeans, ripped, frayed,

    Sewn together- look! It has pockets!

Comfort zones come,

At a comfortable pace.

Ginger peach turmeric tea,

Sipping tangerine neon sunsets.

    Sure, the eclipse kissed the sun,

    ate her whole.

    Celestial travelers, clearing,

    Solar systems, solar plexus.

Perfect alignments,

Orbits and conjunctions,

Oppositions and trines

    Never still, never still.

Tell-Tale Heart

I forgive myself lazy days on the couch,

All the times I just acted like a slouch,

Eating frozen pizza instead of making a meal,

Every single time that I ever ate veal.

The years I used Roundup cuz I didn't know better,

Or how much child labor went into that sweater

Times. I smoked too much, times. I cursed,

Drove intoxicated, It could have been worse. 

I forgive all the breakups, all the disappointments,

Divorces, lost friends, all the estrangements.

Emails not sent. Phone calls not returned,

Losing trust when it had been so hard-earned. 

It wasn't okay, it isn't now,

But it no longer has to affect me somehow,

Because I learned my lessons, I learn them well,

This is the tale my compassionate heart has to tell.

The One Question

 

Here at the retreat

My life revolves around most

What's for lunch today

Sappho's Delights

Sappho’s Delights: Poems 1984 - 1997

A delicious collection of feminist and lesbian poetry that chronicles the adventures of a young baby crone as she crosses the country and discovers home.

These tasty morsels span almost a decade. From coming out as bisexual during high school in Maryland, a frisky four years of college in Connecticut (with an interim in zesty California), a healing year in Northern Idaho, participating on the Global Walk for a Livable World (where she walked from Los Angeles to Flagstaff, Arizona), living as a lesbian separatist, as well as opening the feminist bookstore in Santa Cruz, California.

Friends, lovers, cats, and companions are celebrated through poems, haiku, songs, ramblings, and even some blues. Dip your toes into the honey!

Last Day

Monday morning, the last day of the retreat. It is quiet in the chapter room, besides the flipping of pages as we try to find our list of intentions from Friday's session. I have the taste of ginger cookies in my mouth - every day there was some kind of fresh baked treat but today was the first day that I indulged.


The white roses are faded on the altar, but the sunflowers and showy Azalea are still bright and cheerful. I can hear the cooing of quails outside the window as they scratch through the underduff looking for seeds and bugs.


I'm all packed and ready to go. Part of me wishes these were seven-day retreats, another is ready to get back to the Chip and the cats. I’ve put my phone in airplane mode so that I have a smooth transition back to Santa Cruz, and to give myself another couple of hours of silence before being subject to text calls and emails.


Yesterday, after the morning session, I spent a hours painting my rune stone tiles. I chose jewel tones, with gold and copper accents. This was one of my weekend intentions simply to do art. Of course, I wanted to do more, but it was great just to focus on one project for a long time rather than multitasking, being interrupted, or even hearing music, let alone the television.


I also wanted to read, I finished one book and started another but felt too distracted this morning even though I had plenty of time. It was easy not to drink and I definitely had plenty of food. My only complaint was sleeping poorly as it was too hot and I kept being interrupted by the sounds of the fridge.


I walked every day, actually, I hiked every day. The paths are so steep here I fell once on the way back to the trailer. There were tons of little rocks in the path. I didn't have hot water in the trailer and when the maintenance people came I noticed they walked on the other side of the path which was less rocky so I took that route from then on.


My heart leaped with joy when Amber asked for a volunteer to pack up the altar, rather than having us remove our various treasures. I was sure this would be the last retreat, and I’m curious about what time of year we will be coming back in 2024.


Blessed be.