flimsy evidence

 wispy cloud with intricate

ridges and whorls

of vapor fingerprint

flimsy evidence

of the concept of rain

plastic v plaster

i was in practice when

there were still plaster casts

so, i got to work on the soggy mess

created by a fractured-legged

athlete who could not wait

for his limb to heal before

water-skiing again

so, i am not down-playing

the many advantages of plastic

except that again we have overdone

a good thing to the point of inhaling

bits of the stuff, setting islands of it

loose in our oceans and using

it as barriers between

our sense of touch

and nature

in all, perhaps, not total gain

nature endures

 fog surrounds me in white

dawn squashes insistent pink

between cloud layers

osprey parents-to-be groom

nurture and fuss in nest of sticks

as though people have not chosen

their version of christianity

to justify their greed

re-read

Antoine de Saint Exupery’s Flight to Arras.

    I just read Antoine de Saint Exupery’s Flight to Arras. This French reconnaissance pilot, his navigator and gunner accept an assignment they know will give them less than one in three chances of surviving. All three know France is losing their war with Germany and that the information they gather will probably never reach the chaotic central intelligence to do any good in planning. Yet they accept with a mild, “Very good, Sir.”

     St. Exupery, author of Wind, Sand and Stars, describes his thoughts during lulls from attack during the flight and how his musings allow him to grasp his connection to the long, tangled lines of refugees. Once home to base, battered but safe, the pilot walks in lonely silence unraveling the strands he has come to understand. His insights give me constructive clues as I try to understand what is happening around me now: Acceptance, brotherhood, sacrifice have come to mean little as we have lost knowing we are part of something larger than ourselves and settle for the limitations of self.

blind to borders

poor Bluffo stubbed

bloody toe at the border

he refused to see

delusion

long years of giving to build

tall arrogance and short months

to tear apart and maim

the irony:

Bluffo the clown

thinks himself a man

so ready for spring

sunny days with snow-capped peaks

glistening against cerulean sky

rhododendron blossoms eager

to break forth into flushed, glowing

blushing pinks and unnamable whites

so ready for spring

surprised by anger

surprised by my deep anger

and feeling used

in the nasty snap i gave a friend

whose project demanded of me

when i had nothing left to give

he didn’t know; he went on a cruise

leaving me dangling

when he learned, he tried

to make amends, but too late,

it seems, because my true feelings

reached out in that vicious comment

that leaped from my lips

teaching me to forgive – when i can

his gift nearly ready

garage swept and empty shelved

for the first time in decades

a self-cleaning oven needing foam

and elbow grease because its door

would not latch

a bed board and TV stand too heavy

for me to move to my apartment

we are finally down to so few items

the rhododendrons tense

to bursting into riotous blossom

the view across Willamette Valley

to the snow-capped Cascade peaks

celebrates sunny days of clarity and awe

so nearly ready to let go

of the home my Earl gave me

in his loving generosity

serious waiting

haiku

osprey pair guarding

female stretches slender wing

male returns with food

laughter

laughter is food, drink

shield from human cruelty

my prayer to God

portland spared

haiku

sunshine cheery morn

indigo-gray threat’ning sky

but no tornado

the cost of that savings

At least one children’s cancer

research team has needed to halt

experimentation because

of the instability of Bluffo’s

funding of the National

Institute of Health

We do hope that none of your

descendants is stricken with

that type of cancer

buy high and sell low

buy high and sell low

Bluffo the Clown advises

rely on me as all you have counted

on is shaken to its core

by my chaotic edicts

stemming from pet theories

without proof or truth

knowing my cronies and I

will pick up pieces of fortunes

national treasure in building

of our empire, but poor Bluffo

the people of America are already

catching on that they are not what

our leaders cherish

love duty

disabled child unable to walk

long limbs clinging as mom,

having picked up and carried

this love-burden all his life,

gathers him in her arms though

he is more than half her height

what he says

read my lips cries Bluffo

for it is only there you

will find the prosperity

i promised for you

while i am busy creating

chaos enough to let me

rebuild the systems

that protected

you

i delude myself

i delude myself accepting

alternate facts as describing

a reality that others can see

and share with me

way of hoping

anxious to have hope

but knowing how little my concept

of me

stacks up against what matters

to what is

perhaps i might try to see me as part

of the whole rather than

particle

finally, soon, i hope

Finally, so excited to have the movers come to take out the last of the furniture and ‘stuff’ for the May sale at the Methodist church – only to have them stuck in a much largest project than anticipated in lake Oswego yesterday. Rescheduled for Monday morning. SO looking forward to having things somewhere so my house in the foothills with its view of four snow-capped peaks ready for a new and loving person or family!

sargeant-major nurse

haiku

rigid discipline

serves doctor but not patients

without empathy