Dog-Eared Day

dog-eared day:
our ears are knotted with burrs
delicious burrs from dashing round
and round the garden looking for squirrels
looking for some deer, looking for turkeys, people
people like our family who then sigh loudly
when we come into the family room
when we've got more burrs than fur
--but they've got us

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This is both Scout and Huckie; but Huckie is the bigger criminal. She had stuff ALL over her face especially around her ears, eyes, and mouth. Big A is working tonight, so I had to cut it all off with tiny scissors while At and Nu held her still and spoke soothingly to her. It was HARROWING. I was terrified I'd hurt her or that she'd jar me with sudden movement and get hurt. Nu gave me a hug for being brave later on and said she could feel my heart jumping right through my chest when she did. Our non-human part of the family is nuts.

Also, as the kids said, we should get Big A to do this in the future, he is the professional, after all.

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Sweet Hobbitses

We walked to the MSU Arboretum today for a world of gardens (Japanese, English, Michigan).

Also, I love my special little juicy hobbit so much.




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An Augury

An Augury 
Here my children are making spaces:
blanket forts, jokes, eye rolls, faces--
spaces for just them

Their sweetness swirling from cyan
to scarlet to sonnets nibbling,
unfurling in my heart

The gates that once swung between us
when they were young now lie
translated, behind us.

It seems yesterdays are gold, are spent
and tomorrows are vague presents
here at summer's end

May my empty be their success, I pray:
Take the clay of my blood and milk,
my loves; blaze away.

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Forest Bathing

Nu joined the walkers today and loved all six miles.

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Uh-Oh

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These are the three poems I sent DA

Muse, After Hours, Asifa.

Now we wait...

(Super full and very grownup day today: Search committee work and meeting, candidate interview, CASA visit, CASA updates, Tamil class, book club (Little Fires Everywhere), kid cuddle time, sending poems to DA.)

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When your brother's arms are busy...

but you want so badly to be hugged by him,

there's space between his shoulder and the seat.

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