Tag: birthday

poetry

Happy Birthday Darrah

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Happy Birthday Darrah

Darrah burns
to do more be more make more heal more

she smashes expectations
splinters them to shards

she shapeshifts
recreates herself her place our world

eagle finds her
and she laughs with him

no matter how cruel the world
how harsh the day

she keeps offering
words earth seeds sweetgrass smoke

sometimes spirits stalk her
and she doesn’t say no
no she says yes and yes and yes

and we tremble at her pain
we humbly tremble at her power

today we honor all that unfolded
all the souls that gave her breath

all the days that amassed
to yield the gift of her birth

poetry

birthday season

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birthday season

we’re so glad you’re here
your spark makes our lives glow
and since you drew your first breath
things have never been the same

we’re saying this
with candles and cards
wrapping and ribbon
doughnuts and ice cream
Sharpie on the door jamb
marking your ascent into adulthood
friends and family stopping by
to throw the floodlight of their love
squarely in your grinning face

every year we mark the miracle
that you arrived at all
(and better yet – you are amazing
and better still – we still breathe together
now)

poetry

13 in 2020

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13 in 2020

he needs a bigger bookcase
and pants that fit
a haircut strategy
and a phone of his own (eventually…)
he needs to be pulled outside
to get his blood pumping
and unify body + mind

he needs to know
when normal will resume
a timeline for his tropical dreaming
when he can next dust off that life list
how many years until his passport
will be stamped again
he needs some certainty
about where he’s going
and when

and all I know for sure is
none of us knows what’s next
but wherever he is
is even more wonderful
for his deep-feeling heart

poetry

after the trifecta

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after the trifecta

after all these days weeks months years
we still genuinely like each other
(harder to achieve than loving)

for this and all the other joys
that have come along with
these three main lights in my life
may I always feel grateful and blessed
even in dark hours
mine or theirs or ours

you’d never give up on me
he says
no, I wouldn’t
I agree
may it always be so

even when the road’s nearly washed out
and the lightning’s going sideways
and the rain’s a perpendicular blur
there’s always the distinct possibility
we’re headed straight toward rainbow

poetry

Double-digit Cedar

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Double-digit Cedar

he wants a world
where all the pieces fit
where positive and negative balance
and everything adds up
but he also does his best
to quadruple his luck
dousing himself at the spring

he surrounds himself
with cute and fuzzy
and finds new ways
to leap off windowsills
and hammock extremely
and he finds a way into
any mud puddle out there

his sweetness matches his size
and although he’s getting closer
to eye-level every day
he still comes and finds me at the spruce
still joins me under the canopy of sky
still shares his stuffy wealth with me
still is my little son
with the extra big heart

poetry

for Margaret

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for Margaret

she lives and speaks
deliberately
with intention
a stretching out of her heart
to everyone
she listens to the stars
and the lap of the lake
she makes a cup of tea
for death
and a nest for birth
she tucks each little brother
and sister in warm
before laying down her own bones
she brings all her attention
to each blessed day

poetry

23 October

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23 October

all day I’ve been silently slipping
in and out of thoughts of you
your birthday ingrained
in my internal calendar
like my first address
a prime number

I still don’t know
what I was supposed to learn or do
what I was asked to give
how I should have changed

no one speaks of any of this here
alone I settle into
the deep confusion
your memory rends
like the sucking fountain
where the towers once stood
the darkness going down down down
deeper than light can go
into a silent still chamber
where no answers wait

after a time
I begin to ascend
glimpse the 3 warm pink bodies near me
throw my grappling hook at any and all
haul myself into sun
with enough strength left
to mumble
thank you for the alphabet soup
that brought five of us
into the light

poetry

Owen at Twelve

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Owen at Twelve

Owen gets burned and says almost nothing
sprawls across my lap
trying to capture light and feathers
just right
tells stand-up-comedian-quality jokes
(he asserts)
while cracking himself up until he squeaks
works hard every day
to get a huggie! response from his brother
sleeps sound while a hyena
yowls its way through camp
eats whatever meat is set before him
knows birds he’s never seen before
nearly as well as he knows
how to turn the tumblers
on each one of our hearts
while arching his eyebrows
giving a mischievous sidelong look

poetry

Cedar at 9

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Cedar at 9

chances are he’s barefoot
in a puddle
singing a song
he makes up as he goes
hips swiveling
Cubs hat bobbing
feet splashing mud everywhere

he’s the warm spark
that grounds this family
and lightens us up
the lucky energy that keeps pumping
when we’re about to wind down
our pug-loving chicken farmer
who right now is testing
just how much adrenaline
one hammock can hold

poetry

little bang

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little bang

13 billion years ago
there was almost less than nothing
no time
no space
emptiness so empty
we can’t fathom it

then
the singularity

three minutes later
most of everything that will be was
in a universe flying apart
later lit
by flaming nuclear stars
tiny phosphorescent dots
in a great black sea of vacuum

46.75 years ago
I was in the same empty void

then
two little cells fused
and we’ve all been reacting ever since

today on the deck
in a brief bit of sun
between snow showers
I face Sol
close my eyes
soak in the energy
until my lids are fired
and all my internal screens
have gone burnt-orange-quiet

feeling that heat for a moment
I believe
I’m as undeniably here
as that rascal sun