The Mysterious Yodel

 It wasn't just any old yodel. It was

a large sound in the small valley, 

small by valley standards. The dips

and shadows behind boulders. Amazing

clatters that threw down small pebbles

before the skitter and plop. 

The Sea

 I looked at the sea. Its choices and waves,

curving towards the land, away from the sea!

How could they call life one big fishbowl

when it is, in fact, one big sea. One that 

beckons to be thought about, felt. 

When I Detected

 Something was amiss.

It was always the same something.

Anyway, back to raising my cats,

they're growing up fine. One has

a sleek coat and the other

is almost an angora. 

Supposed

 I was supposed to follow the instructions

about keeping quiet

especially regarding a certain lively creature

and what to call the little weirdo. In reality,

what did I miss in all the commotion?

The rinky-dink little town. Its drab streets

leading to pioneer graveyards. Plus,

what to do after seeing all the dust

and used up trees? 

Mystery of the Sea (monkey)

He begged me to join him

under the sea. I said

that would mean undersea? 

And I think he nodded at this

from in between the fronds

of kelp and such.  It was not

decoration but necessity, knowhow.

When I Was A Teenager

 

 

old with plums to cut

flatten them into diamonds

for the butter crust baked just so

back then I wanted more sugar

back then and now I need less

too many plums to use to freeze

I was old back then just a song

but true for me back then

Slinkys

 

Up in Nome we had Slinkys so at the rez when we got new ones they didn’t have the same impact. We brought along our Barbies but I left the pink dune buggy behind, it would have taken up half the metal trunk that we each got to put stuff in for the move to the desert. Mom ordered me books that were hardcover, Island of the Blue Dolphins and also Summer of the Swans, two contradictory stories. We also got Sasha dolls from Sweden that we loved because of their thick hair. Later I realized that Mom got us things she wanted that she never got as an orphan in Germany. She lived her childhood through ours yet never actually played with our things. Even the kid-sized guitar I know she was interested in. She just observed for a little while and walked away, impossible to read her emotions.