August 13, 2014 The Sunday Whirl/University Medical Center

University Medical Center

Walking up to the hospital

The first time

My knees jello

Red roses bloomed along the sidewalk

The sky blue

The weather mild

In an unfamiliar town

The new center of my world

The short walk was uphill

Surrounded by tall buildings

I wasn’t sure

Didn’t know

I had spoken to the doctor

On the phone

His voice low

His words serious

I asked if he was eating

By the tone of his voice

I knew his condition was bad

He said no, not now

He has had a stroke

We are doing tests

We will know more soon

My blood ran cold

Through the years

I had worried about so many things

That might have happened

Yet never this one

I was at his bedside

I held his hand

Kissed him for the last time

Soon his life would be over

I would still be his Mom

He would be gone

It all passed so quickly

Someone told me

‘life is the hyphen between’

Birth and death

This day is grey

Tears slowly run down my cheeks

Hard to let go

Hard to believe the unbelievable

The blood of my heart is cold

Now is the winter of my life

I will live until I am alive again

August 13, 2014

August 11, 2014 Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads/The Better Lie

Prompt:  Lie You Could have Told Better

The Better Lie

OK you asked

Yes it was a lie

Or at least the truth softened

I didn’t want to say

I didn’t want to meet with you because

‘You can’t paint’

So I tried to soften it a bit

And I said we are at different levels

I don’t want to go to great effort

To meet with people who are behind me

Of course it is just my opinion

Just because you have a brush

Some paint

A canvas

Does not mean you can paint

Or can call yourself an artist

You have to do the work first

Let it stand on its’ own

Before you can claim that title

Still you said you wished I had said

‘The drive was too far’

If only I knew I could have told a better lie

I could have said ‘I died’ or

I was going to be sick on the day we were scheduled to meet

I couldn’t find my keys

My car wouldn’t start on that day

Any number of big fat lies

Could have been better than the lie I told

To lie is not an art I have cultivated

I would only lie to save your feelings

Save your face

Save your life

Otherwise when you hear me speak

It will be the truth

August 11, 2014

Note:  Sometimes the truth is just too hard to say.

Andy Warhol said it best when he quipped: “Donʼt think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if itʼs good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.”

August 7 & 8, 2014 The Sunday Whirl/ At the Edge of All There Is/ Poetry Pantry/Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads

At the Edge of All There Is

I reside on the mesa there

Overlooking Taos Valley

Often Pueblo horses graze

Sleek and healthy

In the fields across the little dirt road

That meanders across the mesa

Can be followed all the way into town

At night when it is dark

After an eye’s wide open sunset

Red, yellow and gold

I often hear the sounds of bullets

Fired in the darkness

I’m not sure what or who is

Defending his home and family

Perhaps he dreams the ‘peoples’

Are being surrounded by ‘natives’

Perhaps he ‘saw’ something in the darkness

An unusual time for target practice

Or celebration…some say coyotes

The morning dismal

Overcast with grey clouds

Hiding the mountains from view

Another day to ‘try’

Meandering to the finish line

The day is planned

The completion is in sight

Upon completion

A new idea will be planted

As I work the idea grows

Becomes my future

I am keeping notes of my progress

It takes about six weeks

To complete a work

A spot ahead is designated

I am working toward it

Throwing the ball

Running to catch it

August 6, 2014

_______________________

Wonderland

As planned I did reach the finish line

Stepped back to take a look

It isn’t what I thought it would be

But I am foolish to think I knew

By now I should have learned

No matter what I think

The work has a mind of its’ own

And will be what it will be

The dominant color is green

Green of all living things

Of meadows and forests

Before the autumn color change

And green turns to gold

Accented with reds and oranges

Also as predicted

I am directed to the next project

I enter unknowing

Hopeful

A novice again

All that is known to me

Is to put one foot in front of another

And to continue to do this

Until a path is created

Something we both can see

My world is a wonderland

August 8^th, 2014

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