Ariella's Poetry: July 2017

Saturday, July 8, 2017

I Feel Like A Man When...

I feel like a man when
I'm in charge
I feel like a man when
I work a 10-hr shift
and bring home the dough
I feel like a woman when
I cook you dinner afterwards

And pretend it was nothing
I feel like a man when
I pretend I'm not hurt
I feel like a woman when
I pretend nothing's wrong
I feel like a man when
I fix your computer
and the plumbing you fixed
I feel like a woman when
I say it was nothing
I feel like a man when
I don't notice I'm hurt
I feel like a woman when
I have to take care of
myself
I feel like a man when
I want more sex
I feel like a woman when
you want more sex
As a man
I need to feel like a man
But sometimes I feel like a woman
As a woman I feel
But I don't feel like anything
I feel like a human
When we stop for a moment
And sit down together
And talk
And hug and caress one another
And fuck the Sacred Masculine and the Sacred Feminine
Let them go fuck each other
Let the Sacred Feminine fuck the Sacred Feminine
And let the Sacred Masculine fuck the Sacred Masculine
They're so homophobic!
And let's just be human
In all our perfect, perfectly different and similar bodies
In our imperfectly similar worlds

The Music Waits (June 2017)

The music waits in the shell
Long after the soft heart creature
Creating it has been eaten
Long after the crab living inside
Has outgrown it
Eons tumbling on the ocean floor
To the shell hunters' beach
To your child grandmother's pocket
Reflecting your heart pushing the blood
In the soft shell of your ear
Echoing the shapes of violins
The seed of the first ever symphony
In the morning bird chorus

A rainbow of glass horses (June 2017)

A rainbow of glass horses
Prance up and over the Rialto Bridge
Into the windswept Jesus sky
Briefly beatifying the middle aged Australian couple
In Orange hair, yellow shorts and dayglow sneakers
Stopping to breathe in
A full frontal of St Mark's Basilica
Into their bodies, their brains, not Instagram
Before becoming a meme

La Serenissima
Layer upon layer
Of human signatures

Matzo Meal (Apr 2017)

In every generation you must see yourself
As though you were the one
That came out of Egypt
Exited the narrow place
Leaving the bonds of slavery
For we are all children of slaves
And we are all children of slave owners
We all came out of Africa
With our stories in our genes
And we must feel for the slaves
In their bonds of servitude
Though the prisoners could have overcome the guards
A slavery of the mind, in the mind
Though they would follow you to the ends of the Earth
If you gave them the bread of affliction
Instead give them freedom

2 haikus to catch up with Poetry Month (Apr 2017)

Bodies are nature
We watch them grow in the gym
Our own and others'

If the South Pole melts
Coastlines move to the country
Life vs. humans

Apr 1, 2017

To My Almost 8yo Friend
Last night we made a dreamcatcher with your mom
You asked me to tie the pink webbing
Even your little brother threaded a bead
It's the stones and beads that catch the dreams, you said
You skied down with your dad and I couldn't catch up
I called from the ski lift but you didn't hear
I went another way, found a wavy formed trail through the woods
Enjoyed it because I knew you would

Apr 2, 2017

We opened our eyes at this magnificent view
Led here by those that had been before
And I wished life were that simple

I knew someone that climbed this mountain
Then sank to depths of despair
Body fixed and broken by surgeries
Keeping the picture by her bedside
Of what she once was and could do

And your dad losing his sight, his memory, his self
As you try and hold him to his original Vision
That he never could share
Creating in you an absential void
Wherein other life grows

The walkable gap from my feet to the mountain

Women's Day 2017 (March 2017)

Everybody sees I'm dressed in red
Some who listen to the news
More than usual these days
Recognize I'm part of the women's rally
And I'm glad
To be pointing out the obvious
I'm a woman
I'm for women
But can't stand the slogans
No ban, no wall, no deportations
No borders, no nations
I march around ICE 2-3 times
Then retreat to a nearby bookstore
Where I bump into a friend at the poetry shelf
And we sit down and write
For women's suffrage, the emancipation of slaves
Were nascent in the word Democracy
Lets take off our colors
Our baby pink and blue
Our shades of skin
Leaving them for all to see
And fully embody our words
Edit

Jan 17, 2017

Inspired by the movie Paterson:
The rain waited until evening to fall
Like passengers wait at the bus stop
Because buses take you somewhere else
Words transport you from your mind
Over the rainbow behind the waterfall
The rain waited for sunrise

Jan 10, 2017

It rained horse's hooves & rocks last night
Friendly horses nuzzling my arm as I duck, cover & roll
You sheltered us in a cave with no peace
Wanting out into the landslide the storm
Running I know not where or what from

The river knows where it's going
You walk by the river as creek after creek joins
Wondering: will it flood its banks?
You don't want to float like a leaf to the ocean
You want a rudder or oar to steer your own course
But how will you know when you hit an obstacle
Whether you or it were losing control?

I sing you a sad Russian lullaby
A little boy paces the beach with blue eyes
Watching the wind snatch the boat from the shore
The sailors have fallen asleep

Rowing Machine (Jan 2017)

Reach forward, knees bent, then pull back
Put your back into it, a flick of the wrist
Accelerating the chain, the words
"Feather the blade" float in your head
Reminder of rowing crew in high school
The cox yelling as icicles crust the oar
You pull from the grey river Thames
Now you strive to maintain 2.30 per 500
At 30 spm for 5 minutes
Choosing your own goals and tolerances
After an hour in the gym it's hard to submit
To the yoga instructor's rules
But then you feel great. Sore but great.
Another winter I wanted to row on Lake Merritt
The boathouse abandoned, I ran round the lake
Coming back, out on the deck, two rowers
Has pulled out Concept 2 rowers
Looking out on the water in the cold, dark rain

Dec 17, 2016

There is poetry in the movement of ants
Finding hidden cracks in the masonry
There is poetry in dreams scrawled
And forgotten in my bedside notebook
The moment my dog steps off trail into the grass
Showing me the bench where I watch the sunset

We are the ants and the ant poisoners
We step off the trail
For one glorious intense amplified moment
Through the warm diaphanous universe

I wake touching my own face
To the sound of The Beatles'
All You Need Is Love

Tribute to Leonard Cohen - A Truly Beautiful Man (Nov 2016)

I first heard Suzanne from Elijah
A truly beautiful man
He lifted me up on his shoulders
To watch the concert over the crowds
And we went on a full moon hike
With wine and chocolate and friends
I skinny dipped in the ocean
The underwear in his car not mine

And he heard you play live once in Israel
And I heard Suzanne there at a cafe
And my heart was already broken
You gave me a lock of your hair
From a box with a picture of you
"A truly beautiful man"
Another woman had written

And we once saw Elijah together
You saw him across the room, saying
A truly beautiful man
And you made Genevieve cry
By reminding her of lost lovers
But my heart is too broken to cry
Even when hearing Suzanne

And you mix up the past and the future
That once was and never will be
Sexy and sacred and sad

In These Times (November 2016)

The earth is a drip cloth
For the leaves, for the trees
Are trying to paint the blue sky red
As a rosary, a mala
Stop signs along the road
That deserved more attention
You wish the people of Standing Rock
Would stand up for themselves not the water
That falls or not in its season
You paint signs, Water is sacred
The Standing Rock benefit overflows
Sacred is what we need
Not guns and $ signs

Sep 12, 2016

Bay Area Perspective
Bay losing itself in fog
Water a kaleidescope of turquoise, purple and green
Bridge curving, the spine of some gigantic beast
With traffic in its veins
People heading home, to work, to party
Lately we seem to me like ants
3D puppets in someone else's movie
When will the screen freeze
And the credits start rolling?

Aug 22, 2017

The water doesn't know
Where the river is flowing
It spreads over the earth
On the path of least resistance
The Earth doesn't know
Why it's attracted to the sun
It just keeps on falling
without getting closer
We follow our hearts
Onward and inward
Toward one another

Aug 17, 2016

I watch 1000 new Americans
From 100 different countries
Disperse, this sunny morning in Oakland
Clutching red white & blue flowers & flags
Taking pictures under sycamore trees under grey buildings
Besieged by voting registrants in lime-green t-shirts
As I sit and write on my croissant bag or phone
Surrounded by the comforting smell of coffee
My smiley certificate neatly enveloped
As a bag lady slowly organizes all her papers beside me
And I feel moved, not by the ceremony
But by the 5th grader essays on immigration read onstage
By a great grandmother coming back after two years alone in France as a child
After she was turned away for red-eye
And how we welcome people
And welcome them to disagree

Aug 15, 2016

I love the sky and the ocean
The sun and the rocks
The stars and the trees
And my love makes me happy
And more myself
So why is it when I love you
I feel less, unless
You love me too?
Edit

Found poem created by googling (March 2016)

Found poem created by googling three arbitrary words, separately, then using the top 3-5 results/images as source material:
Hello my name is Trouble
No reviews
A place where water flows over a vertical drop
Profound inverse funds
Designed to rise when markets fall
Tropical, lush, glistening over elephantine rocks
Into a bottomless luminescent green pool
A $ sign sculpted in privet
Sandwiched between perfect maze hedgerows
Little Miss Trouble
A garden hedged with yews

Mar 5, 2016

Bird flying around the fountain
Trapped in a gushing torus of water
Turned fire in the morning sun

Pause
Bird flies straight up into the light sky
A speck vanishing

Semi-Urban Semi-Wild (Feb 2016)

Spring is in the air and the neighbors
Who normally pass like ships in the night
Are out in the street talking in loud voices
About the wild turkeys
I suck a jasmine flower and sneeze
The little boy watches my dog, then says
"Daddy the cute doggy did that"
Lifting his leg against the power pole

Feb 05, 2016

It’s easy to be loved
Even the concrete molds around the bay leaves
The thought fox settles on the page
Trains toot their perpetual goodbyes

Like the word like
Linking desperate, disparate images to now
Comforting you and I in downy dreams
Separately forever rooted in the same soil

The x and y of z

Nov 28, 2015

Sunlight through Escapade roses

Learning how to say I love you in Chinese

Counselors don't work for me he says
Dripping sweat on the roses
I'm on Adderall Seroquel and Prozac
This is my first time in Berkeley and I'm 63
Me I'm a magnet for crazies
Before I even say I'm a therapist
He's told me he's in love with his Chinese escort's sister
Who lives on Alameda and has a sense of humor
They sit politely on the bench with his tour guide, her son
After family Thanksgiving at the germ phobic Chinese grandma
Who recoiled when he said
"Wo ai ni"
What kept him alive these past four years
Was his friend saying wait til your mom dies
Then she told him shut up
Your crying's keeping me awake
And he bought her violin lessons to play in his band
It's the people around you that keep you happy
He says, embracing his new family in his gaze
Aspiring to objectless love
And relationships don't die, say I'
Sunlight through Escapade roses

Learning how to say I love you in Chinese

Counselors don't work for me he says
Dripping sweat on the roses
I'm on Adderall Seroquel and Prozac
This is my first time in Berkeley and I'm 63
Me I'm a magnet for crazies
Before I even say I'm a therapist
He's told me he's in love with his Chinese escort's sister
Who lives on Alameda and has a sense of humor
They sit politely on the bench with his tour guide, her son
After family Thanksgiving at the germ phobic Chinese grandma
Who recoiled when he said
"Wo ai ni"
What kept him alive these past four years
Was his friend saying wait til your mom dies
Then she told him shut up
Your crying's keeping me awake
And he bought her violin lessons to play in his band
It's the people around you that keep you happy
He says, embracing his new family in his gaze
Aspiring to objectless love
And relationships don't die, say I

Nov 21, 2015

Insha'Allah let there be shalom
Liberté, égalité, fraternité
Among the children of Ishmael and Jacob
Europe, Asia, Africa, America
May the lion lie with the lamb
And the young girl lead them
Jésus, Allah, Elohim
We have created You in Our image
For once let us see ourselves
The warm, welcoming tribe of humankind

God Is In The Details (Nov 2015)

Eight of the chickens live in the trees
Red, speckled, brown and white
Scratching for bugs under the leaves

The voices harmonize in my dreams
Reliving the offbeat interactive war musical
Everything will be as it should be

The smell of smoke clings to my hair
The skeleton is fit for service
The children pillowfight all day long

Sappho's picture age 3 is glued onto her dad's guitar
Wearing your looks and hand-knit hat
You sing in Hebrew, those were the nights

I borrow seven colored pencils
The frames are for making a wall of bugs
Water beads magnify the grass leaves

The music speaks to the ripples projected on the screen
The sunset speaks to the red autumn leaves and berries
You dye the yarn I weave through the random images

The Blue Stove (Nov 2015)

Green Valley Village, Epitaph (Oct 2015)

Elephant hoof hills
Crowned with olive trees
Friendly goats, Jersey cows
Children laughing in the willows
Tangling the May pole

You in your nice houses
Barely noticed we tried
Swimming upstream like the salmon
Seeking our source, our Gan Eden

Drowning in rivers of tears
With an undercurrent of social ills
Not even quite hating each other
Just sad

Sep 26, 2013

There will be time, there will be time
Time to watch the leaves turn golden
And fall off the vine
Time for the fruit to drop and rot away
Time for the seeds to sprout
Time to clean up the mess
And mess things up again
All at the same time
Creating and decaying
Forming and reforming
Time for a cup of tea...

Ariella's Poetry