—Poetry by James Lee Jobe, Davis, CA
—Public Domain Photos Courtesy of James Lee Jobe
The Sacramento River delta, sloughs and marshes, rich in flora and fauna. Sandhill cranes wading and foraging in a small flock. The frogs are wary. The tiniest splash and it’s dinnertime. A hot summer day among the bulrush and the reeds.
Light beams from the moon come down through space to land on my old peach tree. The peaches, ripe and ready to pick, glow pink and orange in the other-worldly light. Reaching up, I gently take one peach and begin to eat it, and all the while I am watching the moon, full in mid-summer. The peach tree, the moon, and me; getting together at night like three old friends. And so we are.
Standing in my yard just after sunrise, I pick a ripe peach from my tree and eat it right there. A fine and soft morning in summer. Nearby, the sounds of birds.
We are surrounded by a tremendous wall of death.
The stench of death reaches up into the sky,
Even the clouds retch.
No one speaks of yesterday or of tomorrow.
At night, the believers pray. In the morning,
The gravediggers return to work.
We are surrounded by a tremendous wall of death.
This wall has a name:
COVID-19.
Damn all liars.
Am I getting old? Yes.
But I am still dangerous—
I know the truth
And I am not afraid to tell it.
____________________
Today’s LittleNip:
O suffering life, why should you reward me with the treasure of the evening sky? And by what insolence do I accept it?
—James Lee Jobe
____________________
—Medusa, with our thanks to James Lee Jobe for his tales of the peach tree this morning! The truth, and not afraid to tell it…
Am I getting old? Yes.
But I am still dangerous—
I know the truth
And I am not afraid to tell it.
____________________
Today’s LittleNip:
O suffering life, why should you reward me with the treasure of the evening sky? And by what insolence do I accept it?
—James Lee Jobe
____________________
—Medusa, with our thanks to James Lee Jobe for his tales of the peach tree this morning! The truth, and not afraid to tell it…
—Public Domain Photo Courtesy of Joseph Nolan, Stockton, CA
Photos in this column can be enlarged by
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.
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that which was previously-published.
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