StarPoet Newsletter Vol. XIII, No. XVIII

One antihistamine over the line,
I float like some primordial butterfly
On a meadow-bed of color-saturated flowers,
A summer clouded cetacean feeding lazily
In a sea of krill and small fishes;
I breach, subside, sink slowly into the depths,
A series of unsustainable leaps,
Ocean to stars and back again,
Lying low without movement below the surface.

I chose the road not recommended,
Stumbled when the pavement ended,
Continued on to the horizon then beyond;
If I had all my druthers in the universe,
I would have made great changes at the beginning
Long before I set foot outside the valley
To cross through Donner Pass into the sunrise.

The Non-Avian Dinosaurs in my back yard,
The ones not busy eating apple trees,
Are actually quite chatty,
Unlike the flying reptiles
Currently jockeying with the Avians
For control of my air space.

— Lisa Jain Thompson (April 2012)

This mischief you see before you
Falls easily from my lips,
Neurobiology is all
And all I have and ever will be
Is first screened within this body,
Neuron and synapse, flesh and muscle,
Before I tongue it for the world
And thee.

I am no island wizard
Bound by spells that word me,
I utter no magical incantations
Comforting to careful constructions
Or the expectations of
Proper authority, nor do I
Ask for their approval.

The ocean gathers below me,
Rising and rolling
In ever greater white cap
To crash upon beach and rocky shore,
Scattering the ravenous seabirds
That shadow the earth's bright heavens:
It is no one's mischief but mine own,
Unwracked by storm or tribulation.

In Oceana a plane has crashed,
Fell from the sky on take-off,
Both pilots survived,
A housing complex in flames,
No one dead or even seriously,
But stirring memories
9-11 and the faces of friends.

I have done Good Friday,
Spent my hours silently
Or well incensed knelt
When the Passion was read;
I have made my novenas,
Greeted Mary with bright flowers
Come the warm sun of May,
Walking with my classmates
In reverent song and rosary
While carefully watched by nuns
Focusing us on our soul's salvation;
I have sung the praises of
The Trinity and all the Saints,
Made the very best contrition
Any child can every make
And taken the Lord's body carefully
On my tongue and swallowed him whole,
But have not been blessed with faith:
How long shall I burn Lord
If you truly do exist?

The smell of polish remover and hair dyes
Reinforces the reality we are women
--Work staff and customers inside the salon --
Save the stray gay hairdresser, lost husband
Or the child who wanders in with her parent.
We relax among ourselves, free from the pressure
Of the binary even as we reinforce it.

Calorie and Caffeine

Calorie and Caffeine,
Juice and McMuffin,
A latte in a travel cup;
A meal that can be unwrapped
And consumed enroute in the car
As you listen to NPR on the radio,
Check your email at each stoplight,
And plan and worry your day ahead
After apping into the Post
For traffic, weather,
And the possibility of world war.