This is a piece I picked up in Mongoose Junction on St. John. It's signed by someone named Gingras and it's copyrighted and made available through How To Live. Long Beach Island, NJ.
609- 492-6454. Enjoy.
How To Be A Gardener
Lean toward sunshine
dig down deep
make peace with chaos
Grow Amazing zucchinis and too many tomatoes
raindance
rake leave and jump in
hum along with bees
Ache, Sweat and Yearn
wear crazy hats
and baggy pants
have wise hands
cultivate patience
moonglow
stay rooted
blossom wildly
have shady and mysterious corners
mend fences
wonder
get earthy
make magic
share the harvest
be thankful
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Colony Collapse Disorder
The rain forest emerges
from night of thunder
dripping into morning
my colony suffers
collapse disorder.
A young virgin
in a strait jacket
of chemicals
graduates
from the bleachers
of Hackettstown High.
My alarm clock
blinks 1230 AM
as lightning rouses
me to a spiritual pilgrimage
in the pursuit of food
while all the time
the sky is telling me
to get my nails done.
My fingers smell
like burned flesh
as the sun chases
the storm away
and I emerge
a bedraggled fox
wondering
how my world
has changed.
from night of thunder
dripping into morning
my colony suffers
collapse disorder.
A young virgin
in a strait jacket
of chemicals
graduates
from the bleachers
of Hackettstown High.
My alarm clock
blinks 1230 AM
as lightning rouses
me to a spiritual pilgrimage
in the pursuit of food
while all the time
the sky is telling me
to get my nails done.
My fingers smell
like burned flesh
as the sun chases
the storm away
and I emerge
a bedraggled fox
wondering
how my world
has changed.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
ST. JOHN, USVI
Hillsides burn in the eyes
of the baggage handler at Cruz Bay
as slaves swim to freedom
in the dark channels where a Black man
is running for President
while the ferry from the Westin
fills with the faces of his African ancestors
and heads away from this island
where I am the invasive species
perching on the hard red rocks
thrust from the depths of earths's magma
in the collision of two tectonic plates
fifty million years ago.
Blue tangs, parrot fish, octopus, eagle ray
barracuda, shark and sea turtles
all swim among the many corals
brain, fire, flower, elkhorn, pillar and deadman's fingers
Lizard fish, damselfish, grunts, grouper, trumpet fish, eels
and bar jacks,
I could make a longer list
doctor bird, bananaquit, frigate bird, kite, trembler
whistler, egret, black heron
on and on the names lure me
with their sounds and colors
century plant, sensitive fern, soursop, calabash, lion's tail
flamboyant, allamanda, Izora,
how many songs
in the words my tongue trips on?
This is not my habitat
I tell my wife
I was not made to live
and breathe here
The rocks are too sharp
the air too humid and too hot
my white skin crawls
out of itself
as I seek shelter
from the sun,
darting from the shade
to the water
like an iguana
under the watchful eyes
of the mongoose
goats eat the hillsides
cows stroll the roads
and a sign reads
Donkeys Keep Out.
Whose island is this?
Whose habitat?
Gas costs $4.68 in Coral Bay.
of the baggage handler at Cruz Bay
as slaves swim to freedom
in the dark channels where a Black man
is running for President
while the ferry from the Westin
fills with the faces of his African ancestors
and heads away from this island
where I am the invasive species
perching on the hard red rocks
thrust from the depths of earths's magma
in the collision of two tectonic plates
fifty million years ago.
Blue tangs, parrot fish, octopus, eagle ray
barracuda, shark and sea turtles
all swim among the many corals
brain, fire, flower, elkhorn, pillar and deadman's fingers
Lizard fish, damselfish, grunts, grouper, trumpet fish, eels
and bar jacks,
I could make a longer list
doctor bird, bananaquit, frigate bird, kite, trembler
whistler, egret, black heron
on and on the names lure me
with their sounds and colors
century plant, sensitive fern, soursop, calabash, lion's tail
flamboyant, allamanda, Izora,
how many songs
in the words my tongue trips on?
This is not my habitat
I tell my wife
I was not made to live
and breathe here
The rocks are too sharp
the air too humid and too hot
my white skin crawls
out of itself
as I seek shelter
from the sun,
darting from the shade
to the water
like an iguana
under the watchful eyes
of the mongoose
goats eat the hillsides
cows stroll the roads
and a sign reads
Donkeys Keep Out.
Whose island is this?
Whose habitat?
Gas costs $4.68 in Coral Bay.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Dawn
A blue heron
stands guard.
Drunk on light
two otters
mate like snakes
in the dark water
in and out
up and down
waves ripple
in the stillness.
Prostrate
on the pine needles
my body awakens
to the scent
of life.
An owl calls
the night's end
and the wind whispers
"We were put here
on this Earth
to witness Beauty."
The day dawns.
stands guard.
Drunk on light
two otters
mate like snakes
in the dark water
in and out
up and down
waves ripple
in the stillness.
Prostrate
on the pine needles
my body awakens
to the scent
of life.
An owl calls
the night's end
and the wind whispers
"We were put here
on this Earth
to witness Beauty."
The day dawns.
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