uschi-the-listener

[uschi-the-listener]

Monday Morning

It is okay

not to spring

fully-formed

from the head of Zeus

a little grumbling

yawning

foot-dragging

are perfectly

acceptable

but mindfully

This is your life

Now is all you have

and being genuine

real and true

matters

But this is your Life

and you conspire

with the Universe

to shape it

Lean into

a shape

you can

Live with.

.

#monday #life

[uschi-the-listener]

First, five syllables.

Next, seven in the middle.

Finally, five more.

.

#haiku

[uschi-the-listener]

April seventeenth

It's National Haiku Day!

Feel free to join in.

.

[uschi-the-listener]

Unity

one would think

the most Universal theme

would be love

heartbreak

new love

past love

love

I don’t think so.

It has to be

loneliness.

Each self

locked into

a bony shell

sealed away

imperfect communication

misunderstood

misheard

unheard

no words

that can penetrate

the fused connections

the unhealed

scars

closed to the outside

We curl around ourselves

to avoid the kicks and punches

of an angry world

out of control

and end up

hollow

alone

empty

curled around

an empty, roiling gut

gut feelings radiating

running into the wall

of scars

of other

of healed over

pain

the next step

in evolution

needs to be

openness

welcome

and

Unity

You are here

I am here

let me draw you a map.

X does not mark the spot.

we cross no one out.

.

#loneliness #unity

[uschi-the-listener]

She is forever

Running

At the head of a pack

Small dogs

Ears flapping

Tongues out

She curls up in a warm lap

Eats all the bacon

Except when she has chicken

A whole piece to herself

Bones and all

Because she has no body

And her soul doesn’t care

There is no pain

No struggling to breathe

No dimming eyes

No fleas

It was a good life

Long for her kind

They cried

The Mommy and the Daddy

She misses them

She tried to comfort them

Of course

But this was no stranger at the door

Nor bicycle

Nor skateboard

Nothing she could protect them from

Oh well

She rolls over

In her new soft bed

Under the sky

Finally free

.

#miss betty #death of a pet #grief

[uschi-the-listener]

coupling

the dream is like this

and it seems small

offhand

no

no, it isn’t.

I come home from work

in the dark

and I leave the light off

leaving clothes

silently

in the hall

let you sleep

I hear your warm soft breathing

a slight rustle as you shift

in your drowsy comfort

anticipating me

in your dreams

I slip in

slickly sliding under the sheets

like a ghost donning her uniform

regimental

and you do not stir

or feel me yet

I mold myself to your

beloved form

thighs under your butt

breasts pressed to your back

face to the nape of your neck

a soft shoulder kiss you feel

but do not feel

my arm snakes under yours

and I cup your quiet beating heart

and our legs entwine

a natural tangle

my feet on yours

a sigh

a settling in

all in silence

all in darkness

maybe

you wake up

and turn to me

ready

eager

or not

and maybe in your dreams

you merely smile

and sigh

and snore a little

and snuggle down

two loving mammals

wrapped in dearest

sweetest dreams

slumber deep

and safe

warm

soft

one form

from two

soft and slow

let dreams come true

#love

[uschi-the-listener]

The Zombie Apocalypse is here; the zombies are the venal, stupid, corrupt cultists. Only we aren't killing them. There is no defense.

[uschi-the-listener]

Panbioism

Everything is alive

and lives at different rates

dimensions unfolding

if we had eyes to see

rocks live slow

slow

slower than a tortoise

flowers

and bees

share a fast

existence

they understand each other

my dearest wish

is to run alongside you

find our rhythm together

live at a pace

synchrony

#panbioism

[uschi-the-listener]

To my darlings:

To my dear ones who

against all odds

are who they are

and are likely

to be in danger

because of it.

My darlings.

My loves.

I do not tolerate you

I adore you.

I want you to know

that I do not tolerate you,

I am so deeply proud of you

for doing what most people

can do without thought

or threat

or dire consequence.

You are magic

and beauty

and fun and wise and

sharp.

Forgive me for getting it wrong

half the time.

I am a silly old fart

and have never lived in your skin

empathic though I try to be.

No names named

because

You Know Who You Are

and Who You Are

is marvelous

amazing

lovely

mine.

.

Happy Trans Day!

#transgender day of visibility

[uschi-the-listener]

It is

it only graduallly dawns

that change is

everything

to a tiny person

new to the world

it is all

different every day

and there is only

one moment

one moment.

And then it changes.

the big people

seem to count on

things being the same

even when they aren’t

ever.

Change is.

and part of growing up

is denying that

indubitable fact

and then learning it again.

It just is.

#change

[uschi-the-listener]

It’s another Adam and Eve myth

another justification

for the mistreatment of women

If you ever loved a woman

if you ever were a woman

grit your teeth

and read the story.

The story of misogyny

brought to life

a tale to teach children

what men think

women are for

and what they deserve.

She was the first human woman

of the Greeks

created to punish all men

for Prometheus’s theft of fire.

She was equipped with lies,

deceit, seduction

and was given a jar

full of all the evils of the world:

sickness, pain, fear, and all else

that we dread

and told not to open it.

Curiously, Hope was in the jar

which has somehow morphed into a box

for this benighted age.

And when Pandora/Eve

disobeyed

after having been set up

just to be knocked down

as women are

knocked down

set up

hated for their very existence

When she disobeyed

and let all the evils into the world

Hope remained

trapped in the jar.

The world remains hopeless.

Hopeless.

As long as Pandora

Eve

Womankind

are vilified

set up

knocked down

laden with

the narrow expectations

of a certain ancient

kind of Man

Man Kind

the world remains

Hopeless

Hate can be overcome

and Hope can be released

but we have to try.

We have to want to.

Hope.

.

#hope #hopeless #misogyny #pandora's box

[uschi-the-listener]

sunken treasure

we feed our starved skin

sighing like old couches

comfortable

worn

cushioned

finally at ease

concealed from

whatever is out there

out where we

are not

soft covers

make a single mountain

of us

sunken treasure

looking much like

ancient chunks

of weathered rock

bedizened silver

gold long gone

this

is why I stayed alive

I didn’t know

the best comes last

wait for it.

.

#love #old people love

[uschi-the-listener]

When it comes to me,

I have to drop everything

Write it, post it, There

.

Otherwise, bye-bye

gone forever, like a dream

Peremptory Muse

.

There is no mercy

If you intend poetry.

You don’t make the rules

.

#haiku #the process #no mercy #write it post it

[uschi-the-listener]

Unpopular Opinion

I saw an ugly man

A cruel man

An evil man

I hated him

He started to die

As all people do

I was glad

Everyone

Mocked him

Celebrated his humiliation

I suppose he deserved that

Not. My. Call.

I don’t love him

Not now

I don’t like him

But i think about

In my loneliest time

I was never as alone

As that

We are exhorted

From all sides

To throw stones

At this man

Set apart

I don’t know

Not my call

But it seems to me

In my deepest self

That if you hate

A bully

An evil man

Cruelty

Ugliness

Somehow

doing saying being

The same

Puts you

In the same category

As the cruel evil man

If you are okay with cruelty

Ugliness

Keep up the good work

Hate can chew you up

Inside and out

.

#revenge #hatred #cruelty #ugliness #not.my.call #unpopular opinion

[uschi-the-listener]

This morning

The yard is full of Robins

Badass robins

The scouts

Listening for worms

Getting a feel for Spring

Unafraid of a little snow

Easy to believe they bring it

But, no.

They are the harbingers

They do change well

Better than anybody

.

#spring #vernal equinox #robins

[uschi-the-listener]

Crawling from the wreckage of my dreams

Semi-awake

Checking for injuries

Putting out fires

Reassembling missing parts

You move closer

Not to comfort me

Not to help

To see what you can get

Sex is the furthest thing from my mind

You would understand

If you would just listen

So you don’t

.

#nightmares

[uschi-the-listener]

Out of True

Two men and a bird

one a cartoonish figure in a toga

walking on clouds

(not many of those around here)

the other, a baby boy in a barn

(and the boy-ness of the baby is made obvious)

cluttering up the animals' dinner

or

a slender white man in a beard

and a bathrobe and sandals

and a suffering, bleeding,

naked horror

for scaring people into

some version of

artificial goodness

And the Bird

a tiny

flying

dinosaur

meant to represent

the interface

between god and human

(and we are to assume this is

not one of the statue-crappers)

There are no women here.

Not in ancient garb

striding around

pontificating on clouds

no baby girls

in the hay

no sandaled handsome young women

or torture victims hung up to die

at least none who become

objects of worship

and fashionable jewelry.

And this is taken as a given.

No one questions why

half the human race

the murdering half

the serial killer

mass murderer

beating, raping

molesting half

is Holy and

2/3 of Religion

And the other half

is of no consequence

none at all

either invisible

or chattel

or subhuman

Unholy, unblessed, and occasion of sin

by

the standards of

the Holy half

Life goes on

and balance is

lacking

and gets more and more

out of whack

the gears are grinding

there is thumping

and squeaking

and screeching of

unbalanced parts

the Engine of the Universe

is tearing itself apart

because Balance has been lost

and bolts are sheering off

and there isn't enough oil

to smooth the way

to grease the parts

and a very big part

is missing.

#religion #xtianity