emory and i in his garden
lower german striped tomatoes
into ground
in 9am sun
_______
gigantic piece of paper
(pieces from the white roll
taped together)
on living room floor
we decide to color first
(picking up woodgrain pattern from the floor
then throwing things under there to pick up other textures/shapes/designs
[string, cards, legos, sheet of binder reinforcement stickers])
before folding it into the world’s largest paper boat
(big enough for emory to sit in)
_______
cecil and the rest of us
in the filtered porch sun over lunch
joke about selling punchlines
at the farmer’s market
since the amount of talk
trumps the amount of sales
_______
after the rain
a wasp and something bee-like
struggling in the water at the bottom of a
five gallon bucket
i lift each out
one at a time
with a plantain leaf
and release them
in the grass
_______
weeding horehound in the herb garden
i pluck out wild garlic
dandelion
a young black locust tree
(whose spike punctures my right thumb
and draws a drop of blood)
_______
bachelor button plant in
giant pot
i sling it on a hip like a baby
and carry it across the road
towards the woods
to the place granola is buried
_______
mica and i speedwalk the
red earth ridge
racing rain
headed our way
from the south
a wall of grey
_______
bri passes around the discount chocolate
which doesn’t taste like discount chocolate at all
and alyson pours some of her water kefir (‘fruit beer’)
into our glasses
while the wind/rain hit the windows
_______
from the garden (where i dig into the brassica beds
pulling up dandelions and onions)
a pink flush in the sky
color enough to draw me away from the digging fork
and when i get to the road on the western edge:
orange-gold orb visible through the trees calling me to
chasing down the sunset
which i do (run down the rock road
until i arrive in a clearing
to see the thing
blazing)
i sing to the cows
on the other side of the fence
who move closer
but still maintain their distance
on my amble back
_______
barred owl calling from
the trees into daylight and dark
_______
emory calls out heyy frrankie
from down the drive
like my michael jackson outfit!?
he’s so far off i can’t see
but when he comes into focus:
white shirt
dark suspenders
dark pants
dark shoes
white socks
black hat
white glove
loooook-in sharp! i respond
_______
from the water world:
Hundreds of surfers hold hands to form a circle in the Pacific Ocean for a memorial paddle out in honour of the victims of the Isla Vista shootings in Santa Barbara. Picture: ZUMA/REX – the telegraph
detail collector 