Path

It was less traveled
But what the hell
The other is more comfortable
Understood
Expected
That's the one I take
That's the one that delivers me to all things ordinary
Predictable
A warm blanket to wrap myself in
Makes me drowsy
Tired from the heat and suffocation
Dream of something else that would make all the difference

© Poem Fix http://www.poemfix.com 2012
Image: Purnima Koli

Pepper Tree

To keep the large pepper tree from falling
I thinned its east-facing side
Where over time it leaned into the morning sun
And took on a permanent unhealthy angle,
Dangerous,
Jeopardizing my house.
My rusty jaw-toothed saw
Sliced through easy lower twigs
Exposing thick weighty branches,
My target.
When I needed more height I fetched a ladder,
Balancing tenuously,
Hacking at strong wood
Feasting on gravity.
Healthy green limbs fell
So the tree could survive.
I started through the last heavy arm,
Saw almost too late that it supported a nest
With three small powder blue eggs.
I stopped, leaving a deep wound in the tree
That would fester and claim the branch.
For now, the nest stayed intact,
But for how long?
I heard a desperate wind last night,
Which kept me up,
Anxious.

© Poem Fix http://www.poemfix.com 2012
Photo: Poem Fix

Six Days

I arrive in the world hopeful,
Wondering what this lifetime will hold
But I already know the
Short time I've been granted.
Hello, they say to me,
And rush me away for
Tests and tensions,
As if they can measure god's intentions.
They give it a name, a defect,
Which is fine if it helps them cope with forces
Beyond their control,
And the consequences of another
Life, world, time.
So be it.
I was told it would be this way,
So it is.
Six days isn't long to experience a world,
But it's ample time to soak up the love I missed before.
I feel a passing sorrow for those who care for me,
Try not to focus on their sadness and pity.
I wish I could tell them it's OK.
They'll understand soon enough.
For now, they experience me as part of their own life contracts,
In the end,
I'm ready when the darkness comes to reclaim me
Because I wasn't gone long.
I allow my parents to mourn for me,
My gift to them,
And then I'm off for another try at healing.

© Poem Fix http://www.poemfix.com 2012
Drawing: Leonardo da Vinci

Y-Chromosome

National Geographic studied

My DNA.

They traced my ancestors back

50,000 years to the Rift Valley in
Northeast Africa.
Withdrawing from the Ice Age.
Stone tools and early art.

My Y-chromosome then migrated north

Through the Middle East

And into southern Europe.

I’m in North America and

Not feeling my roots at all.

I suppose we’re all from Africa if you

Go back far enough.

But I can barely remember what I

Ate for breakfast two days ago

Or why I let my ego get out control yesterday.

Africa thousands of years ago seems distant and

Meaningless.
I can't feel it.

But the girl who stuffed me in her closet when I was 12,

That I remember.

That I’d like to change.

I wish I had been brave enough to ask her to

Explore my Y-chromosome.

That would have resonated more

Than a dusty patch somewhere in a distant continent.

© Poem Fix http://www.poemfix.com 2012

Illustration by Archaeogenetics