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When I pay attention…

It takes a multitude of energy

To run or steer the ship

My brain a million Titanics

Trying not to crash or, tip

It takes one long liner

Four & a half miles to stop

Like parallel parking the Queen Elizabeth

In a really fucking small dock

Because when I pay attention

I’m doing fifty things at once

& all the balls I’m juggling are

Bowling balls

I’m trying hard not to drop

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Huge sigh of relating!

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When I pay attention…

I see a single white

hair on my dog’s back

and stroke it.

One, two, four more.

Tiny flecks in a

forest of black fur.

I see her whiskers.

Hear her breath.

Feel it on my face

as I lean it in,

secretively

and wonder

what she dreams about.

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On discipline…

A teacher that feels

Like a foe

Looking for insolence.

A ruler, a compass,

A national anthem.

A picking apart,

Pulling away.

A silent assault

Of criticism

Filling my head

In a voice that’s not my own.

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They teach us how not to be

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When I pay attn…

magnets pull me in

planets draw me back outside

doors swing on hinges

Day 6 #shittypoetrymonth

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What is Discipline?

Rather than meditate

I’d rather sit up late

Pecking away on my phone

When completely spelled out

Those words add up to doubt

Pecking away while alone

Take in deeper breaths

While their gasping for air

Pecking away on my throne

To put this thing down

Just begin at the crown

Pecking away must atone

Old and wise enough

Choose to do other stuff

Besides pecking away, nothing sown

Clocks moving forward

Agitated disordered

Still pecking away on my phone

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I’ll remember the lines “pecking away on my phone” for a longer time to come, I think!

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~Discipline ~

Head down

Wings spread wide

I spy with my little eye

Drift & soar

Hide & seek

Silently hunting the

Songbird who speaks

Target no more

Than is balanced & whole

Necessary to take

Everything in its place

Feathers in my wake

You won’t see me coming

As my claws spear your heart

Pin you to earth

& tear you apart

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My Scorpio heart skipped a beat! 🦅

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“Nourishment is…”

The ground worms taste with their bodies

The soil and dirt and their wiggly skin becoming one

And what does my body taste with

Just my tongue?

Or is it nourished on levels I cannot see

That I haven’t been taught of

But that intrinsically know how to find food for my soul.

And can I be a wiggly worm sometimes

Frolicking in the earth outside,

Even though my taste buds may not be accustomed to enjoy the mushiness of the soil

can I let the earth taste me

And I can nourish myself in its body,

Knowing one day it will nourish itself with mine.

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So happy you’ve popped in! 🪱

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'Nourishment is' haiku...

A big inhale of

air after gulping water

and time floats away.

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Nourishment is…

Giant green sequoia teaming with grey squirrels

aglow thru dirty windows

dandelion twirls

gentle breeze is not awake

the day is still til later

reclining in the quiet room

kitten as invader.

She dances on a table,

Nibbles on a cord,

then saunters over to my chest,

gently climbs aboard

Her tiny face is so earnest

With sparkling mint green eyes

She asks me for some wet food

So together we rise.

Honoring her sweet request

I had far more than enough rest

It’s time for more important things

We get her food, with joy she sings.

The morning comes & with it brings

A kitten as invader.

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I want to cuddle invader kitten!!

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On Improvising.........

When I

don’t gild the lily

I let it rot

let the soil take its

body, digest its microbes

the soil knows what to do

the lily knows what to do.

Not through memory....

each time is the first time

a meeting, a dance,

a love making

between many.

The dying lilies in me bow to

the hungry soils in you.

The rich soils in me bow to

the emergent buds in you.

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Couplet ‘on improvising’ to the best of our ability

Beyond arid foreground, reveals glimpse past or future

Heart lead thru oceans, flower balm & a suture

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Very moving in just two lines.

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~ On Improvising ~

Defunct belt broken

Spotty leather

Two inches cut

Holes punched,

Fitting perfectly, to its new home.

Wheel turned, wool spun

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Dawn woke earlier than usual

April had always been a milestone month

First dog,

First love,

Leaving home for distant adventures.

Long light reaches across the room

Dappling at the windows.

She missed that dog,

Missed that love

& cursed feeling so disappointed in the land she called ‘home’

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I hope the light of new dawn warms your spirit & brings you another dog.

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I have a lovely darling thank you. She’s called Dora x x x

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The Dawn breaks over the bay

bodies lined up like soldiers gazing at the field

a morning ritual or prayer or primordial pull.

They come from everywhere. Not here.

White sons and daughters of cold country

displaced, searching for, or else living the dream

over and over and over they come.

5,600 degrees celsius [10,000 fahrenheit]

aimed at soft diaphanous bodies

who can’t help but come.

I swap the leash to my left hand

and look down at my skin.

I overhear someone with an accent

ask 
“what is a bin chicken?”

And their friend begins to answer.

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Hello everyone. This feels uncomfortable!

Awakening into April,

Magnolia blossoms falling through grey Manchester space.

Our tree doesn’t like to waste time,

Two weeks of flowers, then she’s done.

I wish I cleared my to-do list so quickly.

Maybe I should take notes.

Mounting jobs on top of jobs

Playtime on top of procrastination.

Magnolia will never meet the children she produces

But mine dance under her soft pink flowers

And eat her petals

And my to-do list grows and grows in the fertile soil of our garden.

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I feel like I can smell the blossoms Becky! Thank you for acknowledging the discomfort, I think we're all feeling that! I wonder how you're feeling now, having posted ~through it. I felt some relief in breaking the ice, but everyone's different.

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Good morning everybody. This one’s called, The Dawn…

A favorite prank I ever played

fell on this very day

Closing at the coffee shop

I heard the voices say-

‘Replace their beans with decaf

They’ll never be the wiser’

Refilled grinder, tippy top

Unleaded energizer

The morning queue wound round the bend

I laughed to self & told a friend.

I fooled them it was cruel indeed,

they drank the brew unknowing.

We snorted, cried & cackled so-

their decaf lattes flowing.

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Ahh what a delightfully cheeky story! Thanks for sharing your memory, I love it

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