enoughforall

there is something about the sprinkler…
that moving liquid force field
melting all that goes before it…

there is something vaguely hi-tech about
the precise individual streams of water
like an arched web of laser beams

i always saw the sheet of water
as portal to be passed through
into another fantastic world
the electric tingle of matter displacement
as water slices through skin

of all the countless worlds i slipped into and back,
how can i know that i ended up where i started off?

i was sprinkling a blank notebook with inspirational quotes i'vecollected over the years for my sister's graduation presentand all i could think is how much of an inspiration she has been to meas someone who unwaveringly pursues her goals, as someone whoputs herself out there and grasps any experience she can get...truly as "one who seizes possibilities"

drafting the blueprints for a complex endeavor,
a fantastic structure rising triumphant from
the shell of my idle body, shoving doubts away as it unfolds.
measurements warp and writhe under pressure,
ideas & pictures forged out of white hot heat
meld into the foundation’s framework…

i have seen glimpses of the final structure.
its hallways are strangely familiar,
yet i awkwardly fumble about between its walls
as surfaces reach out to my touch…
the space knows me but i still have a ways to go
before i can confidently occupy my vision.

just started re-reading the world according to garp by john irving
while not my favorite of irving’s books, it still packs some of the most memorable scenes and symbols, one of my favorites being the Under Toad.

the Under Toad is a really creepy notion that was born out of a simple miscommunication between a child and his parents. at the beach, this child was constantly warned by his parents to beware of the undertow, which was warped and twisted into this terrifying creature…

 "Garp...realized that all these years Walt had been dreading agiant toad, lurking offshore, waiting to suck him under and draghim out to sea. The terrible Under Toad."

this wonderful fictional misunderstanding reminds me of oneof my own... when i was growing up, there was this family thatlived two doors down from us, they were a young family with2 young kids. these people were very pure and health conscious,and maybe even vegetarian. but all of this was insanely foreignto me as a child. so when they would offer their son this strange,squishy white substance they joyfully called "toad-food" i wasrepulsed. little did i know that twenty-odd years later i'd be eatingtoad-food several times a week!

after work i was overtaken with the boredom of a caged animal
nothing in the apartment could entertain me,
blankly staring out my window into the warm city evening
i was suddenly drawn up and out, i had to be on the roof!

sitting up antenna-like, tapping into extended surroundings
several stories above the drug-deals, eye level w/ the monuments…
balmy breeze tells of coming rain and adds to the overall effect.

so aware of everything, but also removed, yet totally on display
to anyone whose head was wildly upturned to the sky, as mine was.

on saturday, me and dan swung by the national arboretum
and happily stumbled our way through the azalea collection
which is basically a small mountain overflowing with
hundreds of varieties of these captivating flowers…

i think the best part about the trip was that i forgot my camera.
because instead of scrambling to digitally capture every inch
of the garden, i let my eyes absorb it all on their own,
allowing me to bask in the flowery glow of the moment.

last year a dream revealed some strange truths…
one of which involved my having a secret identity.
i was posing as a reporter for some gardening publication,
who’s job it was to cover everything azalea.
my first story would delve into the flower’s poisonous powers,
exposing the azalea’s known history of laying armies to ruin.

azaleas not your cup-o-tea? check out these lovely lupines.