The Taste of Darkness

Coffee at 5 A.M.

—Poems and Photos by James Lee Jobe, Davis, CA

This is the taste of darkness,
The taste of metal in the air,
The taste of electricity.
You close your eyes
To the sunlight of noon.
The taste of your eyes.
The taste of sunlight,
The taste of day.
Walking with your eyes closed,
No they're covered,
And one arm is reaching out.
The taste of walking.
The taste of an arm in the air.
Now it is night,
You can taste the darkness,
Like metal, like electricity.
This is the taste of being alive.

 Morning Joe

It’s clear that the saucers aren't coming
To take us away after all. Let’s all let go
Of the old humiliations and move on.
Yes, the father was a raging alcoholic
And he never really loved the mother.
And yes, the child was wounded and scarred
At birth; this was intentional. We are all
Perched on poles waiting for the crows
To come and peck at our flesh. It’s a tough job,
And it doesn't pay well, but there is one perk;
Pity and denial don't work anymore, so
Now we all get to feel again. For many
Of us, it is for the very first time.

 Out For Coffee

You have a small non-speaking role in this film.
You are walking across a busy plaza, past stalls
Where people sell things; fruit, vegetables, scarves,
Crafts. Like that. Everyone is speaking Spanish.
In the distance, festive music. As you walk,
You are carrying a heart in a lovely blue bowl.
The heart is bloody, and as the camera zooms in,
One can see that it is still beating. With each beat,
There is a small squirt of blood. The bowl is half full
Of this blood. The sound of the beating gets louder
As the camera gets closer, until finally it booms
Like a kettle drum, and drowns out the noise
Of the plaza. The camera rises up to a close-up
Of your face. You are smiling, at no point
In this film do we ever find out why. Just past
Your face, a small flock of pigeons takes flight.

 Iced Coffee

The weight that we each must bear.
The needle and the thread.
The left and the right.
Something that is and something else that is not.
Up and down.
Within and without.
Which light is for you?
How much weight can you bear?
Don’t speak now, save your answer
For when the fog covers the river and the valley.
Tell your tale; the balance of your life
Aligns with this watershed of place,
This home that you have claimed.
Look, on the low horizon,
Below the clouds; that is Venus.
Walk towards that minuscule dot of light.
Thread your needle, and do not look left or right.
Take with you that which is,
And leave behind you that which is not.
The only weight you have to bear is your own soul.

Mishka's Coffee in Davis, CA

The full moon is hidden by clouds
And I am mistaken for someone,
But I am not anyone at all.

I am crawling under the porch
To count on my fingers the number of times
That I was actually needed.

I am wearing a veil like a grieving woman
And cutting my arm with broken glass.

I am hidden by Tule fog and scarred
From old wounds and from the diseases
That failed to end me.

I do not fear the consequences.
I am burying my regrets under the porch.

The clouds that cover the moon are clearing now
And the fog is a brilliant white in the moonlight.

I am coming out now to wash the blood away
And to return this body.
This body is a loaner.

I am putting one foot in front of the other.
I am not looking back.

__________________________

Today’s LittleNip:

That we might find compassion for every person in our path.
That we be warmed by four kinds of light:
Starlight, sunlight, moonlight, and the light within.
That we can live every day as though it were the last.

—James Lee Jobe

____________________

Many thanks to James Lee Jobe for his morning light shining in the Kitchen today! James writes that the date for his inauguration as Davis Poet Laureate has been moved up; now it’s Sept. 11.

Head over to Sac. Poetry Center this morning, 9:30am, as Writers on the Air presents TJ (aka Brother Hypnotic) and Elaine Fine, plus open mic. Then this afternoon, Poetic License will meet at the Placerville Sr. Center from 2-4pm. 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

 —Anonymous Photo
Celebrate poetry, and the taste of darkness and of light!

Photos in this column can be enlarged by clicking on them once,
then click on the X in the top right corner to come back
to Medusa.