Word Chemistry

 

 

Compare two words

that seem alike…

examine for

linguistic psych!

++==++==++==++==

No resistance

except for T.

As three Ns wave

ability.

==++==++==++==++

Small renaissance,

enormous plea

reveals new truth

as chemistry.

++==++==++==++==

In alphabet

find solution

and reverence for

evolution.

 

NOTE: This poem is in honor of the words RENAISSANCE and RESISTANCE. Look at how they live in the same letter neighborhood yet mean two completely different things. The T represents one line going up against another line, a barrier. And the three Ns represent lines on a chart that measures things/feelings/ideas that go up and down and expand along a line, like waves of water upon a sandy shore. The word “renaissance” means “to be reborn” and comes from the Italian; the word “resistance” means “to hold back” and comes from Middle English. Both words contain an i, so you, the I, is contained within both words–like an exquisite holographic flower in a garden of imagined reality. There are no Us to be found here–these words are for the individual I to perceive alone, without another witness. But, notice that the letter T stands alone in the appropriate word. If you play these words small, renaissance, resistance, as lower case letters, the t allows one to rise above the bar. So simple! Enter a renaissance of being when you release the resistance of the upper case letters and let the small letters play in the park, like children! (I took this photo a little while ago when I realized that I had a test tube, some letter beads and the plastic statue which my friend Mike Tapscott found in a parking garage near the University of Arizona when we attended the Tucson Festival of Books in March. Thank you to the child who must have left behind this Happy Meal toy! Let me know if you want it back.)

 

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Reading Angel

Card of angel

tells the weather.

“Now,” sings the dove,

“we will gather.”

 

Indication

sews a suture

makes a pattern

of the future.

 

Without pretense

and the tense past

comes new passion

a breath. Aghast.

 

Passing on some  

word wrotation

curating

a grace quotation.

 

NOTE: This charm is available from my friend ShaRon website: http://www.nojudgmentjustlove.com, and this poem is dedicated to the project we are planning for the year 2015.

 

I Spoke You True

Around the sun

when it was noon

unattached thought

was trial balloon.

 

Over the course

of several days

there was a change

in friendhip’s maze.

 

Under the moon

while it was half

i spoke you true

And made us laugh.

 

At what is true…

…if not the light

of heart hand head

And freedom fight.

The How Of Who

The how of the who is in question
of we who brought fibers twisted to threads!
Let us make cloth from this discussion.

The legacy of your physical DNA found a match
in the tapestry of our spiritual DNA…
…and its hue made man.

Like you, the i of I fell to Earth moist as
a moonbeam into a pomegranate womb—
first as attraction then as gravitas.

Our tiny hands waved at particles—parcels
of kind attention, or, frenetic energy rising
to teach the lessons of riding a bicycle.

As for me, I explored strands of ore
in turquoise stones; my ears heard the
Charlotte’s Web through a teacher’s voice.

You may have studied the Civil War,
painted landscapes on notebook paper,
collected coins in jars.

Steel, gasoline, electricity fueled these lives
to houses, classes, beaches, post offices;
we let ink capture maps, motions, flags and words on paper.

But enough about you, my friend! Can you tell me why I
Believe that airplanes and remote controls work by
magic?

Do you see the ether in my eyes that reflects
the halogen in your own? May we parse
the fourth mystery of water?

My navigations, to date, include: relief, subtlety,
completion, passion, diplomacy, witness,
freedom, love love love and love. Additional love.

An array of truths brought us here
to speak and listen and know.
Do you also question this discreet system?

Hearts in brains and brains in hearts—
your six senses, and mine, make this memory
of love, play, exercise.

NOTE: This poem was written as a result of the first prompt given to the group of strangers I met at a recent conference for writers. THe prompt was “Write 250 words about how we come to be the people we are.” I am grateful to poet Thomas Lynch, the poet and teacher who led this group. Other group members produced excellent, diverse essays and poetry that created a valued memory.