A Day

the smells of summer
the patterns of rain
the limits of day

under satisfaction
the shadowy dirt
of an open road

--

Also, what Nu got in her summer basket:

(At got something similar)

(Water bottle, headband, hat, notebook (all items $1); tanks, 

Black Panther, Aru Shah, sunscreen for school, a Lansing city passport.)

--

Summer

love
like a holiday
(the British holiday)
(ok, although perhaps
holy as the American too)
seeing it unfurl in your face
feeling it come to fire in your touch
hearing it in your safe, sea-like sibilance

_

I Miss the Children

The shadow of a smile
the shadow of a shadow

of a shadow
of a smile

keeps showing up
restless

in changing light
in change

teeth, no teeth,
tight thin

lipless, this
shadow

the lost children
their lost parents

the circus of grief
the grimy

half-eaten repetitions
nothing will ever

be safe
be sane
be saved
in shadows




   An ICE prison bus full of baby seats.


_

"An Evening in India"

I've always wanted to run a restaurant, so I was so thrilled when people bid on my offering, "An Evening in India" at the UU silent auction. It was BUSY, so I don't have a single picture, but I'm going to leave the menu here.

I'll also leave it here that the kids chafed a bit at the relentless exotification and snarked: Do we have to dress up in Indian clothes too? Rascals.

An Evening in India Menu

Course 1:     A Warm Welcome

v Chiwda (fried lentil and dried fruit mix)

v Samosas (savory pastries)

v Aloo Tikki (spicy potato bites)

v Nimbu Pani (Lemon Water)

Course 2:     Fresh Beginnings

v Shorba: Carrot-ginger coconut-milk soup with roasted cauliflower

Course 3:     The Heart of it All

v Indian Flag Pulao (Basmati Rice with green peas and carrots)

v Mughalai Chicken with sultanas and apricots

v A very, very, very veggie curry with panneer (cottage cheese)

v Mango Dhal (Lentils with unripe mango, toasted coconut, coriander, and tomatoes)

v Cucumber and celery Raita (yogurt-cumin sauce) w/ mint

Course 4:     Sweet Endings

v Mango kulfi ice cream with cardamom and almond sprinkles

v Mava (milk and caramel cake)

v Mukhwas (mouth-freshening fennel candy)

v Mint Tea

Natural

The city grows only strangers,
grows even stranger

I have spread myself
out and I am eaten

I try to find myself
have found myself

then another self
and another
and another
and another

_

Summer Insomnia

the calendar builds
to a crescendo till
the creatures arrive--
airy resurrections in
their bony hearts, eyes
scary, still screeching.

Small, accruing doubt,
all the signals are
yelling the death knell
of cellphone carillons
stones, petals, shells--
night falls, folds over

_____________
Big A and I took a nap right around the time Nu gathered the puppies and headed off to bed, but we both woke up to the most godawful wildlife brawl at midnight. Then we stayed up until about 3 am 'chit-chatting' as kindergartner Nu used to call it.
_

Love and Flowers

Late last night at Meijer... I was beaming by the time I got to the end of the grocery shopping list, because as an addendum to her snack requests, Nu had penned a love note to me. Discussing that at breakfast gave me something else to smile at all day. I had missed bedtime since I had gone grocery shopping right after my book club meeting last night, so I asked Nu if she knew that I had come in to kiss her goodnight after she'd fallen asleep. "Yes," she said, "I know." And then: "I don't remember, because I was asleep, but I know you kissed me goodnight, because you always do that."

The kids are keeping me sane post Santa Fe, post Asifa, post Parkland, post, post, post... Kinda like how although it's wet and cold outside... but at least there are flowers.

moss roses, lobelia, elysium 

_