We the People

                 *

*Independence National Historical Park. September 17, 1787, A Republic, If You Can Keep It

Mean Words

All the mean words make me wary

I wish they'd be way less contrary

and transform 

into a norm

of kindness, decency--totally complimentary.

            

***

 

 

  I'M BACK!!!  

***

The Woman Across the Room

On Tuesday as I walked to my art class
I wondered what I would make.

The coffee station along the way
yielded a steaming cup but no fresh idea...

Sitting with my cup at a table in class
my classmates arrived.

The shuffle of art-making began
yet my paper felt no pen.

I watched a woman working at a table
across the room.

Then stroke by stroke ink recorded
what my eye saw.

Time disappeared for a while...

When it came back
there was an image on my paper.

It was the woman across the room--
I signed it and gave it to her.

Her surprise became a smile,
then broadened.

***

Waging Aging*

EVERYTHING! Takes Lonnnnnger.

Take toothbrushing...

10 minutes + 10 minutes = 20 minutes/day

floss

pick

waterpick

electric brush

flouide rinse

20 minutes a day
keeps the dental bills away

***

Slow recall, or sometimes a blank...???

I don't have to walk all the way through a big house

 to forget what I came for...

I can do it in my one-bedroom apartment...

***

Is it time for a pedicure? Hmmm. 

I can take a picture of my toes to see if they need a trim!

***

*Thank you, Sandy, for the title.

Worry

"Hey there, Toby, my O.J. feline friend!"

"What's up, mi amiga JM?"

"I went to the library to pick up a book I wanted. There, I saw written on a whiteboard that a poetry-writing group was about to start. So I sat in with a whole bunch of people who write poems. Some of them have been in that group for 37 years. It was fun and kept me awake even though it lasted through my usual nap time."

"Did you write any poetry?"

"Yes, we all did during the workshop part. The leader read a prompt that was supposed to get us going. We wrote for 10 minutes and then took turns reading our work out loud."

"Did you write anything?"

"Yep. I grubbed around in my purse until I found a tiny notebook and a pen. So yes, I wrote on that."

"Read it to me!"

"Here, I'll show it to you..."

"Ah ha! there's your dancing friend again, JM."

"Yes! She reminds me of good stuff."

"You must need that with all the worrisome stuff humans have gotten themselves into."

"You're right, Toby! Let's start a Worry Group!"

"Yes, we could call it Awfulizers Anonymous! But I don't worry much. Still, I'll support you and join. I think you'll soon have lots of company."

"Yeah, before it was just The Bomb we all worried about. Then, the USSR collapsed so that worry went away. Now it's one calamity after another; wars, pestilence, political upheavals, refugees, homeless people, guns, people with gobs of money, lots more people with hardly any money, AI, climate crisis. Oh, and we're back to The Bomb all over again."

"Well, at least now if there's an atomic bomb blast you know hiding under your desk won't help."

"Hmmm. That's pretty worrisome."

"See, JM, you need a worry group!"

"Somehow, that doesn't make me feel better."

"Well, then, let's go dance with Daisy and forget about Awfulizers Anonymous."

***

 

Dreaming

"Tobyyyy," I called. Where was he? After a quick search around the apartment, I found him sound asleep in the magazine basket. He woke when I approached.

"You woke me," he said.

"I'm sorry."

"I was having the best dream...there I was back at the farm...the sun was out...the grass was tall in the pasture..."  His words trailed off, his eyes closed, and he was back in dreamland. I quietly stepped away.

Happy dreams, Toby!*

 *My first Procreate Dreams animation. Thank you, Aidan!!!