tearing plastic; flipping pages;
check; eye-slide; cross-check;
wrap up; filling little squares — 
crowded desperately around each other;

busy-ness drives these final days — 
counting down; summing up;
money-grab; wealth spread selectively;
smile and click; check and slash and rip;

; ; ; ; ; ; — ; — ; ; ; ; ; ;

Tell me an old story, friend, one I’ve heard a thousand times before with the same details, same pauses, rises and falls as always and friend, when you finish, just tell it again.

---

love notes
a ritual to start the work week

I forgive you. I forgive me, too.
We didn’t mean it, our meanness. We took a step back (or two).
We can’t do better by being told we’re bad.
We can do better by seeing what makes us sad.
I mean truly seeing: outside and in,
the world that builds it and the worlds that it begins.
I sit with myself to see my nasty parts,
to heal the broken bits and listen to my better heart.
I sit before you to let you see me,
to copy me down, follow my curves, maybe learn to be me.
If we step together, at once even if alone,
we can grow forever, turning our unknowns known.
Just please forgive me. And please forgive you, too.
We can see more fully by taking a step back (or two),
see the lies we wear and the joy that awaits,
the change we run from and the change we embrace.
I’ve been meaning to tell you, been meaning to let you see
that the love we share means the world to me.

---

love notes
a ritual to start the work week

bravery depends
on the lies that surround it
on the hows it grows
and whys that ground it

the ceiling creaks
from foot falls above
and the walls warp
in the absence of love 

moonlight breaks mirrors
as our hope defends us
as our solitude wanes
and their deceit bends us

dying for flags
to wave them more proudly
changing our heads
to bang them more loudly

---

love notes
a ritual to start the work week

joy rests
suppressed
under our anger
and grief
jaws and fists
grip

joy sits
deliberate
weighing options
which crease could crack
which crack will widen
wait

joy lives
hard-shelled 
seedling needing space
and warmth
to twist upward
grow

---

love notes
a ritual to start the work week

brilliance, open and endless
     flecked with maturity, holding light

the yellow of late autumn, storm-nourished oak
     creeps across morning’s pale, cool blues

later, far away stars will speck the same expanse
     bright white time-bombs ticking thru deepening black

dark nests of potential grow in twists,
     slowly shocked silver by grasp

---

love notes
a ritual to start the work week

Care slips from our fingers
like flowing brook water,
frigid from the chill of November night
and icy under our skin.

Only our cupped palms, powered
by boilers hidden in dark basements,
caged and clanging, clanging,
can heat it enough to share.

Attempted sleights spill our wares,
a bean stripped of its magic,
air thinned of oxygen,
leaving us empty-handed.

     Cup lip lowers
back to break the surface again.

---

love notes
a ritual to start the work week

release misfortune 
     just a turn of the wheel
hold fast to the reins
     inner conflict controlled
embrace past warmth
     filled filling full

---

love notes
a ritual to start the work week

my old friend
take me with you
take my body
and my love

my old friend
take my forgiveness
forgive my absence
and my pain

my old friend
feel my reaching
hear my whispers
and my love

my old friend
let’s heal together
let’s heal your heartache
and my pain

my old friend
you still surround me 
my heart knows your pain
and your love

---

love notes
a ritual to start the work week

the memories live in our bones 
shadows of laughter in our jaws
and smiles lifting our cheeks
the bounce and the rattle 
reverberate our hips and knees
opening and echoing our joints
like so many caves of wonder
ankles and toes relive the slow side-steps
and swaying to and fro
ribs to ribs, cage to cage
humerus pressed over shoulder blades
to congratulate with warm embrace
and the grasp of every digit
counting connections, thankful, true
as our fingers clasped our fingers
pressing wishes into each other’s palms

---

love notes
a ritual to start the work week

you’re so tiny
and so beautiful
something magical
and blessed above all 

when the enormity
of life and earth and time 
seems to anchor you
calm your busy mind

remember you’re so tiny 
and so beautiful
how could such weight
rest alone on shoulders so small

feel your light
you’re light, you’re rising
up above it all
observing the turn
without feeling the pull 

when you’re ready
to ground yourself
and bear your strength
return relay recall 

how you’re so tiny
so fragile so nimble so beautiful
something sorcerous 
and ever-changing above all 
you’re the universe you are
you are you are

---

love notes
a ritual to start the work week

wisdom says time
wealth says wealth
taken and given
heard and had

belief says time
faith says faith
taken and given
found and felt

strength says time
work says work
taken and given
dealt and done

trust says time
fear says fear
taken and given
learned and lost

---

love notes
a ritual to start the work week