What Do You Love?

Sacramento Valley, Produce is Never Far Away

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

The lamp stands guard by the open window,
Greeting the darkness with light.
Sounds throughout the valley
Include the breeze, a barking dog,
Laughing children next door
And a laughing wife here.
A great emptiness.
“This is the way,” says the lamp,
But the laughter says it better.
The full moon of September.

 JLJ, Early in My Radio Career, 30 Years Ago

Crows speak with authority in the chilly morning light.
Flowers awaken and call out to the bees,
“Come taste my pollen
And share with me the pollen
That you gathered from my friends.”
The old barn owl makes one final lap above the field
And then returns to sleep for awhile.
Men in work boots, wearing hats,
Move out into the fields, ready to work.
And me? I watch it all with dreamy eyes.
Summer’s end in the Yolo County farmland.
Autumn begins.

 Poet at 62: Bad Knees, Bad Lungs

In the sky today I saw clouds like cotton balls
Floating above me.
Sometimes it feels like the valley sky
Is the roof of the world.
The Vaca Hills and the Sierra Nevada Mountains
Are the walls holding this roof up,
And the Sacramento Valley is my room,
The room where I live.
In my room are farms and cities,
Highways and railways, rivers and creeks.
I live with people, owls, herons, raccoons,
Deer, cattle, and house pets.
And still there is plenty of room.
I am not sure how I've got this room,
But I will find the desk clerk
And see that I keep it for a long time.

 I Make a Powerful Iced Coffee

We are grains of sand
On a beach with no end
And a cold, cold ocean.

Above the pine trees
Big winds
Like time passing.

In the heart of the five-petal rose
Is the truth
You think you deserve.

The winds go on and on
Through the night
Of many stars.

 JLJ With a Question
 

This quarter-moon will set in the midnight hour tonight,
So let me call upon the darkness in prayer.
I pray that people find their compassion every day,
And that we might learn to live without competing.
Compassion comes from the heart
And heals the heart. Both.
And competition? Too many times
No one wins, but everyone loses.
Quickly, before this quarter-moon sets tonight,
Hold up your heart to the light.
Let your compassion grow.
Call upon the darkness in prayer.

____________________

Today’s LittleNip:
 
Rain again, and again, and again—
My birds watching it through the window
In silence.

—James Lee Jobe

____________________

Our thanks to James Lee Jobe for his Saturday morning wake-up call today! James will be hosting two events in Davis next weekend: The Other Voice on Friday, March 15 at 7:30pm, featuring Brad Buchanan, Stuart Canton plus open mic at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Patwin Road; then on Sunday, March 17 at 2pm, Mary Mackey will read at The Davis Arts Center Poetry Series, 1919 F St., Davis.

And tonight, down to Sac. Poetry Center for the Second Sat. Reception for Sable & Quill’s 10th Anniversary, including artwork and refreshments from 5-6:30pm, and poetry from 6:30-8pm. 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 (Celebrate!)

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.