February 12, 2023

a puppy
eating ice cream
and then the whole container

what a treat

~~~

sometimes i worry
that i’m wasting my writing talents
on publishing in a blog

but then i am reminded
of folks who may have thought
i wasted my acting talents
on community theatre

and who is wasting
and who is benefiting
in either of those situations?

is it simply
elitist?
classist?
or simply the whole vibe of white supremacist culture
to give some places
more standing
than others?

i suppose what i’m saying is
tho i wish more folks would read my words
and i saw more accolades and admissions of quality
(moreso for my own validation/vindication/curiosity)
i’ll continue to place it
here
for anyone to come across it
who may want or need it
(including me)

~~~

late night writing
(ok
again
not really that late)
toasty fireplace
cozy tea
coffee ready to be placed in the fridge
for tomorrow morning
when i’ll write all over again

January 28, 2023

i hate seeing our puppy
in pain
and distress

but it’s almost sadder to see her
happy
and jovial
and so very puppy-like
when we know we can’t let her
act on that energy
for another full month
lest she break something else

my goodness
this puppy

January 2, 2023

happy birthday to this
scruffy
little
bundle of
joy
menacing
hassles
shedding
playfulness
whining
dozens of different barks
slightly uneven eyes
thumping tail
reverse mustache
ear fluff
too much intelligence for her own good
scratching and digging
and so much destruction
silliness
and sleepy belly time
love
healing
harmonizing
floopy ears
and genetically terrible knees

[and at only one year old
that’s just the tip of the
puppy iceberg]

Happy Birthday, Computer!!!

December 24, 2022

find sure footing
feel no floating
establish boundaries
no barriers
to your creativity

with only words

~~~

i did it
i performed
and this poem would be so much better
if i’d written it that
(or the next)
day

but i have to say
the feelings
of musical theatre magics
are starting to sneak up on me
again

(and i’m really unsure
how i feel about
that)

~~~

staying up
until midnight
to give the pup
the pill she needs
to not be in pain
all night long
but for me
for my mind
i probably should have been asleep hours ago…

November 17, 2022

poor injured puppy
(i didn’t even know dogs could get
ACL tears)
(i mean, that’s not technically the diagnosis
but that’s essentially what it is
when compared with
human injuries)

and it’s common
and it’s [most likely] not going to need surgery
(knock on wood)
but
it’s so tough seeing puppies in pain
and it’s so tough when we just had our old dog
do so many procedures and things
and we just want our puppy to be able to
have the zoomies
run around
be a puppy
but
she is stuck
in puppy jail
for her own
good

November 14,2022

how do you
become at peace
with the fact
that you will never be doing enough?

i don’t know
but i think
that’s how to approach
anti-racism
anti-white-supremacy
anti-any-hate
in a sustainable way

(because otherwise
the sides of the coin
are performative
or overwhelmed catatonia
and neither
actually provide
results
or action)

~~~

there really is a comfort
to having a canine
use your leg
as a pillow
to prop up
their heavy heavy chin

~~~

when i pet my pets
the studies run through my head
of how this act helps the serotonin levels
in humans’ (and dogs’) brains

but i know my serotonin
or the transmitters that run it along
aren’t working at their full strength
so i often think to myself
“ok, here we go, serotonin, you can do it!!!”
just to help it
a bit

sometimes we need
store-bought chemicals
and sometimes we need
our own cheering squad
and sometimes we need
both
and that shouldn’t be looked down upon