end of the ball

and when they would have finished dancing
their sparkling colors glittering no more
they will return to earthy colors
sucked by the night wind into darker air

after the last and mad whirlwind is over
they will be let down onto the ground
where they shall keep the memory of warmer days
as they will take the shape of a warm blanket

for the earth that fed them until now
and to which they have returned.
tired being they will become quiet
and feed him now, harboring hopes of spring rebirth

quote of the day

it is hard to be a tree in LA
(source NPR)

second bloom

the trees have gathered from the sun
sweet juices through the summer
and now they pour them in a copper cauldron
stir, and turn their sugar into colors

they have a dancing party with the wind
who shakes their ruffles
and their skirts and jackets till they laugh
and blush into a second bloom

the second bloom does not bear fruits,
does not make seeds, but it brings joy and color
to greet the fall, and takes us into the winter
with the memory of the last dance of the leaves.

white noise

this morning I got
30 emails, two phone calls
and I have been tagged twice,
in a network of friends

I cannot see them otherwise
because they live too far away;
further than themthe Pakistani
suffer an intense social turbulence

but I still have a normal workday ahead
when my son worries at school about famine,
and not being pushed on the playground
while I worry about his shoes not getting wet

I will plan to change
a dentist appointment I cannot keep
a couple of bills somewhere on the fridge
these I cannot change

tomorrow I will
make a trip to the library
check out a movie, or two, or three
I will perhaps not get to see any

I am sure
my iTunes folder has music
I love or know I would love
if only I would get a chance to listen

the monkey in my head
has a harder time every day
sorting all sort of inputs
from the white noise polluting my brain

deciding what is important today:
like holding a little hand
singing a song before bed
making it up perhaps

in a creative impulse
or in a state of blissful boredom
where I am lacking a high speed connection
to the many sources of noise in my life

today