Overcast

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early morning

two birds in silhouette

beneath the big pine

wings outspread,

barely moving

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left side bird is larger

right side bird wobbles its wings

Crows’ strange mating ritual?

A standoff between two males?

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I stare, squint and puzzle

the brain adjusts the shadows

that become the heads

of two deer resting–

wing-shaped ears

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The armed soldier

is a sharecropper

mourning two sons

The immigrant cleaner

taught calculus

in her home country

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To question our brains’

perception–what

we think we see, know

truth lies deeper

Why Short Hair (at 15 breaths per minute)

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-wash it 2 or 3 times a week…..45 minutes, 675 breaths

-blow dry after wash…………….60 minutes, 900 breaths

-get haircuts……………………….30 minutes, 450 breaths

-get it permed……………………..90 minutes, 1350 breaths

-get highlights……………………..90 minutes, 1350 breaths

-check appearance daily in any

reflective surface…………………10 minutes, 150 breaths

-thinking about it daily.…………10 minutes, 150 breaths

Cat Dance at Midnight

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Bow to your partner, cuff her ear

Pounce on her tail, circle to the rear

Dos-si-dos, dodge and bite

Allemand left, kick to the right

Swing your partner upside down

One leap forward, turn around

Break apart, hiss and glare

Lick your fur, crouch and stare

Flick your tail, prepare to run

Then–

Stalk away as if you’ve won

Cat Time

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Awaken before first light

Consider:

cat asleep between knees

Disturb her to pee

or try to sleep again?

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Awaken before choosing:

surrender to stormy skies?

Trust the overgrown path?

How to know right,

left to the light

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Awaken before dying:

Is it possible?

warm in honeyed amber

puff of cotton fiber

breathe in waves

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Awaken in the present

where cats live

Now eat now sleep now

Climb the windowsill,

make holes in the screen

Can you see?