Living January

Is to dream

of one blade of sea

on the far

side of a sandbox

 

Is to think skin

is no boundary

to waves

volatile as time

 

Is to plant

footprints and undress

prophecies too

delicate to translate

 

 _

New appointee?

 

Big A:  I was going to look at Haitian protest posters to design an introductory diagnostic for the postcolonial course.

Me: Ohh… (wishing I had thought of it first)

And I got my wish, because Big A seems to have some awesome pedagogical ideas--but only in *my* dreams :).

_

Prayer

Raise these ashes of snow.

Pace this abyss,

dismiss.

Ascend.

Upend.

Know,

flow.

_____________

Yet another snow day. White-out appointments and plans. I try to be understanding about the aesthetic-emotional compulsion for a white Christmas. But who needs snow after Dec 25th? Whoever you are, know that you're on my pout list.

_

Touch

 

Gift:

your reaction that continues mine

Sign:

the welcome of vulnerable circles 

 

this shushing of feet

through memories

then letting them go

to land unplanned

 

Letting it all go.

So. I lean forward listening

--alone like a colony--

and I know exactly who you are.

_

We still got it

Big A and I fell in love in New York. And though we’ve hung out with the kids heaps in the city since those early days, there is some lingering sense of surreality about revisiting places which were all about our passionate freefall with two kids, and as more responsible adults. Because, I guess, the “we” that we are in Yellow Springs is irrevocably tied to our personae as parents, but the “we” that started in New York is all us. In my head--at least--the Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, Clinton Street Bakery, MOMA, Anthology Film Archives, KGB Room, Penn Station… exist merely as picturesque backdrops and bit players in some grand narrative about us and our self-centered fascination for each other. Barf :).

We drew up a complicated and ambitious list of where we wanted to eat that was typically Balthazar for breakfast, Saravanaa Bhavan for lunch, and Motorino’s for dinner. We skipped Balthazar, but I guess two out of three isn’t at all bad. And the night before that we got a corner booth at the fancy steak place, which meant that the kids could play pirates to their heart’s content and I could get tipsy off of beachy drinks (I didn’t realize until I typed that out that there was an ongoing ocean theme there!). At Saravanaa's my people were talking really loud and at Motorino’s the NYU kids were worse behaved than my own, so we made out ok.

2011: More New York!

_

Sunday, New York

The solstice sleeps

you understand

we may have dedicated

the guitars to silence

while the rocks, the day,

and the house unfold

the stiffening ponds

watch mountains march

and all the suns shine

falling in the snow.

_

On Broadway

Our wonderful dentist

who in a brilliant correspondence

of name and profession

is called Dr. Fang

Told Baby A

at her two-year dental check up

that her teeth were: "Strong!

Like Lion King!"

A whole year later

as we take our seats

in literally the last row

at the Minskoff

The toddler

bares her teeth

in friendly

affinity.

_________

It was a wonderful show. My dream room now has a swirling terrazzo and hovering bird mobiles. And given the seven-year difference between them, I'm constantly grateful for these few years when both Li'l A and Baby A can enjoy the same shows.

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