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Lessons I Learned About Deserts This Winter

Seattle’s winter taught me something new: deserts hate me. In the deepest cold of February, as the upper left coast shivered in a frigid, deeply embrace, my skin burned. Cracking, peeling, bleeding, the lack of moisture in the air brutalized me. Far more painful that I remember.

Over the years I dreamt of journeys through the Southwest. Wandering the desert canyons, a soundtrack featuring R. Carlos Nakai, perhaps tied to a writer’s retreat, I explore the zen within the arid land. Tranquility filling my soul.

Now I fear my skin crumbling off my bones. Needing to bathe in moisturizer. Not the most pleasant imagery.

Perhaps my mind exaggerates. It often plays such tricks on me. The dream still lingers. No harm, I guess, in holding that. Maybe the tranquility compensates for the damaged skin.

Such randomness within in my mind.

Unfamiliar with R. Carlos Nakai’s music? His native flute music carries me deep within, speaking to my depths.

 

The Paradigm of Rage

I reject the paradigm of rage 

Replacing that with kindness 

Seeking all the world’s beauty 

Then magnify it all 

Cherry Blossoms at UW

These cherry blossoms

Thousands of people descend

Seattle’s springtime

Tuesday Morning: Today’s Haiku

It’s not yet dawn

No light over the mountains

And I’m now awake

It’s Tuesday morning. A new day arises. What are you going to do with it?

An Early Morning Poem

It is morning, I guess,

Bringing me wakefulness

Vigorously unwanted

Far too recently did I dive in

Seeking eight hours of rest

Obscenely cut short

By my restless mind