Memorial Day

Fundamental mantle banner
Platitude of propagander
Flip old-fangled spangled frock

Around flag-folded tower clock
Gazebo banded gander-suited
Players stand and pose saluted

Sit and peal their tubas tooted
Glory gouged the soldiers hooted
Dear departed dead remembered

Forgotten human forest timbered
Vanished pointed crosses tossed
End endless rows with dark eyes glossed

Plant Dyptich #1

Nightshade

Aye, you know
I'm poison.
I'm famous for that.
And I'm common green except
for those little blue blossoms
that come out later in the year;
And I'm not much to look at, I'll
give you that.
But with me, you know what you're getting.
As for Lilly of the Valley--
all white petticoats and purity with
a sweet virginal scent--
but she doesn't advertise her poison,
Does she now?
Everyone plucks her
to fill their houses with
her gaudy odor,
but never Nightshade,
No, for her it's
"Pull her up by her roots and
toss her on the compost heap!"


Lilly of the Valley

Think of white gingerbread
houses and lace curtains,
kitchens of cream
and dark blue, or
a shiny mohogany table with
a doily in the center
and bunches and bunches of
me in a big crystal bowl.
Think of your long-dead grandmother
alive again as she once was
in her print dress
sitting with a cup of tea
at that very table in your mind.
Sure, Nightshade, I'm poisonous
in several ways, but I hope
no one plans to eat me.

Tulip Time has Started

Spring has exploded with color and it feels like it was just for me. I left the states for the UAE on November 1, 2007 and got back in August of 2010. That means the last time I experienced spring was four years ago. What impressed me as I walked Sammy tonight was the perfume in the air. Too early for the lily of the valley to be out, it had to be the blossoms of the weeping cherry trees, the magnolias (which are magnificent) and an assortment of other things popping up and bursting open. Spring is one powerful season. I had to get out and see it today. I found it amazing. All that color.

Here in Holland, Michigan, they celebrate Spring (I always capitalize it since I’m part pagan) by having a huge festival called Tulip Time, in which they remember their Dutch heritage. People here boast that it is the third largest festival in America after Mardi Gras, and the Tournament of Roses parade. People come from all over the world to see the Holland students in their Dutch Costumes dancing traditional dances in the streets, eat overpriced (but very good) sausages, elephant ears, cotton candy and all kinds of things that leave wonderful smells lingering in the air downtown, and take photos of the tulips and costumes.

On the one hand it is a festival that appeals to a rather geriatric crowd, on the other hand it is a festival that meets a human need to embrace Spring—Persephone rising from the realm of the dead—Winter is over. Something invisible is in the air is speaking: the unbeatable force of life is rising up! Drink deep and get intoxicated! Feel the beat of your own heart fall into sync with the flow of sap in the trees and with the laughter of children playing on the hill.

Terra Dances