Marriage, Sometimes

Your breath this morning:
A failed cheese experiment.
Love you anyway.

Three Happinesses: Part Two

You’ll get no happy ending, and neither will I.

Bad drivers, bad haircuts, bad milk,

our lopsided loves, blown chances,

being too much and not enough.

All the hurts of age (my knees) (your hands),

the suicides of friends.

Whatever ever after you will get

is not one happiness, monolithic,

but many small ones:

a baby learning to laugh.

Bread baked by your mother,

and later, her recipe,

a sacrament.

A sudden mouthful

of kisses in the elevator,

or one tender kiss in the morning

as you’re shaking off a dream,

one that turns into your husband’s eyes,

soft with love in a rough face.

A friend’s voice.

Music.

This.

Embracing Chaos

Today's blog topic (hi everyone! I've been gone awhile because I just had a baby) is inspired by a quote from a friend of mine, Enrique Pina, who told me once, "You need rabid foxes and craziness unicorns in your life in order to make sense." He meant that each of us must find a way to face and even embrace the frightening and the absurd, lest their unacknowledged presences warp us. I do this best through writing poems, although trying new and risky things (like skydiving a few years back) helps me explore what frightens me, and interacting with my small children helps me embrace the absurd.

Readers, do you make a conscious effort to do these things? If so, what are your methods?