Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Today, I start my blog!
I would not bog down the world with yet more text, except that,
yes, like Emily Dickinson, I write -- although I doubt what I have
to say will ever equal her "letter to the world" and unlike her,
I don't want to stuff my desk with hand-sewn fascicles, rather,
like her, shall post thoughts. I don't want friends and family to
think that I am not thinking of them... and as I approach the age when I
will be forced to abandon multi-tasking, (the brain cells having
given me signals that they will go on strike should I ask them
to do any more) this is perhaps the most expedient way to share.

As ever, I am eager to hear responses.

In order of chronological importance, yesterday, the 23rd of July,
was our 30th wedding anniversary --( note how occasionally
I speak as "we" -- which will deserve it's own space.)


Yesterday, also, was the due date for the first of five MFA "packet"s...
which consisted of 12 pages of poetry, some revised,
some imitative exercises, and some new, and 13 pages of text
on readings I have done since July 1st.
This too shall find an appropriate spot.

Today is now, 5:03 a.m., my hot coffee and milk by this laptop,
looking out at daybreak in Seattle.
Sight : Orange abstract in thick grey sky.
Sound: garbage trucks clanging and the steam machine from the dry cleaners across the street.
Tires and engines and the beep-beep signal backing up. No birds yet.
Smell: not my coffee. I didn't make it strong.
Taste: my coffee. nice and bitter, cut with milk
Touch: the feel of my keyboard. The softness of my cheek as I brush a piece of hair off it.

Thoughts: Thinking of Tif in Peru with only two more weeks -- how he might like the
Jim Harrison poem on the writers almanac today about becoming, and how he would put it into music
which makes me think of Amy and her music, the soundscapes she made with her gong-playing friend,
her accordion. Thinking of Ta and how great it was to have her visit -- climbing up to Camp Muir,
running on Rialto beach, biking around Seattle, Pike's market, making peach pie. Thinking of Kristen and her visit with us,
eating raspberries on Rattlesnake mountain, oogling Snoqualmie Falls, 100 feet higher than the ones at Niagara, admiring trains, the farmer's market and blueberry pie. Thinking of Rudi's arthritis and Tira's tail thump. Thinking of the challenges my milouf faces and hoping he is getting the rest he needs. Thinking of my Parents, my sister Anne, my uncles and aunts, counsins, in-laws and remotely related and ancestors -- and how lucky it is to have family. Thinking of the unrest in the world and turning a prayer for peace. Thinking of my friends and acquaintances, the mentionable and unmentionable, and grateful.
Thinking how I probably have missed thanking someone for something, but that these thoughts are like the thanks that are in the dedication and acknowledgement one writes before starting a book.

Be kind to all you meet and listen attentively.

Sending love,
K.