—Poems and Photos by James Lee Jobe, Davis, CA
Midnight again, moonlight and wind. I cannot put down the poems of Miyazawa Kenji and Ilya Kaminsky. I keep reading on into the night. Then my own scribbles in a notebook. A gust of wind rattles the old loose window and that which I call my soul shoots straight up into outer space. Spacemen gather to me, and I read them a poem.
Where are we? We exist in the space between two seconds, between darkness and light. The second before and the second yet to be are of no consequence. We are everything and everything is us. Breathe in, open yourself to the beautiful emptiness. Exhale.
If your life is so hard with your career and your home (Oh how you are put upon!), let me send you a family from Guatemala that has neither, only hunger and fear.
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Below the perfect yellow moon a street light is burning white White WHITE. Why is it even on? Once I have walked past, no one will be there to see it. From one of the valley oaks an owl lets out a soft vowel sound. Perhaps she, too, would prefer the moonlight on its own. I'll go and ask her.
The river is a fine book to read; it can’t help it, it is what it is, just as you are. The river races from high ground to low like a run-on sentence wrapped around a wonderful plot. Of course, you do have to read between the lines.
The fire I built had blue flames that were made from the memories of my regrets. I don’t need these regrets; I said that aloud, even though I was alone. The fire was warm and beautiful. I sat beside it and was silent. The blue flames flickered on into the night.
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Today’s LittleNip:
Bloom in the place where you are planted.
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Thanks to James Lee Jobe this morning for his fine prose poems and photos, helping us to Savor the Morning Air and close off the month of August.
Today from 1:30pm-3pm, drop off your broadsides celebrating Sac. Poetry Center’s 40th Anniversary at the Center on 25th & R Sts., Sac. Info: www.facebook.com/events/667799753741655/.
And today at 2pm, Creative Minds spoken word gathering of artists meets at the GOS Art Gallery on Del Paso Blvd. in Sacramento. Scroll down to the blue column (under the green column at the right) for info about these and other upcoming poetry events in our area—and note that more may be added at the last minute.
—Medusa, celebrating the quiet spaces between words…
—Anonymous Photo
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