force majeure

--an act of God--
ate up the land
trees, homes
all that's left is debris:
cement, rebar, a bit of glass

i ponder the phrase, "act of God" to see if it applies...
or is it an "act of man" to build where God would rather dwell?

swimming in the ocean

i am tossed around
like a message in a bottle.
and the message is:
I AM

off the wagon

i fell off of the wagon last night
today i feel sad, mad, bad
despairing, despondent, nauseated
frustrated, broken, laid bare, sick
done
tomorrow is another day

burning

as i lay on the table
the masseur digs his fingers into my muscles
releasing tension stored up for years
the energy of past sadness, grief, fear and anger
burning

baseball aviary

we are watching a baseball game
when all of a sudden doves are sweeping through the stadium
dozens of them
flying all around,
swooping, diving, taking over
unaware of what is going on below them
and unconcerned

when i finally lie down

at the end of the day
i realize i haven't been in my body all day.
i've been living on the edges of myself--
coming and going,
doing, not being.
i take a breath and come back,
to myself.

in the middle

in the middle of cleaning the carpet,
i sit down to write.
when i look up
it is dark.
the carpet is
still dirty,
but i feel clean.