My Life was the Size of My Life

My life was the size of my life.

Its rooms were room-sized,
its soul was the size of a soul.
In its background, mitochondria hummed,
above it sun, clouds, snow,
the transit of stars and planets.
It rode elevators, bullet trains,
various airplanes, a donkey.
It wore socks, shirts, its own ears and nose.
It ate, it slept.  It opened
and closed its hands, its windows.
Others, I know, had lives larger.
Others, I know, had lives shorter.
The depth of lives, too, is different.
There were times my life and I made jokes together.
There were times we made bread.
Once, I grew moody and distant.
I told my life I would like some time,
I would like to try seeing others.
In a week, my empty suitcase and I returned.
I was hungry, then, and my life,
my life, too, was hungry, we could not keep
our hands off    our clothes on   our tongues from

Jane Hirshfield

being the hands and feet

This left me misty-eyed by 11 AM.

Take II, Mustache

that's about as far as my photoshop skills will take me.

a little boy and her dad on construction night in kindergarten

Audio

And the stars down so close, and sadness and pleasure so close together, really the same thing. Like to stay drunk all the time. Who says it's bad? Who dares to say it's bad? Preachers, but they got their own kinda drunkenness. Thin, barren women, but they're too miserable to know. Reformers, but they don't bite deep enough into living to know. No, the stars are close and dear and I have joined the brotherhood of the worlds. And everything's holy-- everything, even me. -- John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

My car radio quit a few months ago. This unfortunate turn of events led me to begin listening to podcasts on my iphone, which led me to audiobooks, which led me to marathon "reading" sessions while taking the bus/ walking/ standing in line at the post office. I've since plowed through:

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Fit2Fat2Fit

168 Hours

Wise Blood

The Grapes of Wrath

Of Human Bondage

A Long Walk To Freedom 

29 Gifts
Enjoy Every Sandwhich
Middlesex

1/3rd of White Teeth (currently reading)

It seems like there were others.

My favorites were The Grapes of Wrath and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. Wise Blood was hauntingly good. White Teeth is also super good so far... I can't believe the author wrote it when she was younger than me!

I probably am missing out on some twists of words and not savoring as much as I would if I had the printed version, but I also am able to stick with books I likely would have given up on (or, more accurately, forgotten after I picked up other books to entertain myself with in the meanwhile). 

And so, this is a pointless post to tell you what I've been up to lately. Listening. Lots of listening. 

my kind of folk

Hipsters? They don't strike me as such, but whatever and wherever they are, I want to join.

my favorite country song

(prepare yourself!)