Looking forward to old age, to age-old dreams
We decided to Go Tiny
Minimalize
Buy a little crackerbox and live the Keebler life
It won’t be for a long while
But I have started shedding stuff
it peels off daily
Flotsam off the shelves
Out of closets
So much stuff
Stephanie said, “But you don’t have much stuff”
I so, SO get what she means
We are actually simple people
Complicated but unencumbered
It’s part of the pastoral couple thingie
And yet, daily, I find piles to move along
Clothes I will never wear
Art supplies I have not used
(Sure, I might take up painting again,
but the acres of acrylics
the pall of palettes
oy.)
So St. Vinny’s (patron saint of people who just moved into a new place and really need stuff) takes on my burdens
I will burn a candle at his altar
Fly, my pretty things
Fly and roost on someone else’s house
Our nest will be empty (mostly)
again
(c) Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
She was a shy little girl
But the years saw her follow a dazzlebright dream
Sometimes salty with her tears, but free and blazing and true, that spotlight
the place where fear faces down a mighty shout
and the shout wins
Keeping it upright for so long, night after night, year after year, life after the death of innocence and rebirth into a style that was right and real
She had more class in her little finger than those girls from school had in their bigass suburban bedroom closets
She was a gold mine of good stories and
the kind of crooked wisdom that comes from living out loud and voraciously
“This life is mine,” she said
“This room is better for having me in it,” she breathed
And they knew she was right
© 2019 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
For The Sunday Whirl, the words were style, finger, light, mine, shy, salt, collide. Also follow, cats, and a couple of others, but I didn’t have the wherewithal after a full day of church to get them all in!! Peace, Amy
The first time I saw an apple doll was in a picture book
Kids in the suburbs don’t have homespun toys – but that particular book, from our school library, was one of those “Back in the OLD DAYS when people didn’t have SHOES so they walked 12 MILES to school BAREFOOT” kind of books, the ones your grandparents swore was written about THEM
The doll’s head was an apple
(well, sure, or else it would have been a Prune Doll or some such)
An actual apple, dry and old and quite wizened up, used up
The face was dead
Not peaceful, died-in-their-sleep dead
More like starved-to-death or “Bitten By A Brown Recluse Spider” dead. all sucked in on itself, so dry I could almost hear the parch
And the reason this came back to me one night while we were watching TV
(this bizarre tidbit from the Bipolar Lock Box/bat haven)
It was his face
His face as he put his crusty hand on an actual Bible
and swore an oath to do a bunch of stuff we all know he won’t do
does not intend to do
assumes he is above bothering with it at all
That dried apple yawned open, then closed
It never kissed its wife
It had few. if any, words for its own young son
When it blinked, bits of peel seemed to shard off and
float the astroturf carpet below its feet
A desiccated, ancient thing
Perhaps it had been vital at one time, but it was never top of the bushel
The apple a grocer hides in the pile, hoping some unsuspecting shopper
will pick it up along with the other, shinier ones
A wormy, mealy apple
Fruit of a poisoned tree
(Thoughts on the inauguration of Donald J. Trump)
(c) 2019 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
For ABC Wednesday, “L” is for “licentious” and “lecherous.” And “lousy,” “loathsome,” and on and on.
Truth: I wrote this the night of Trump’s inauguration but didn’t post it until now, because I have spent the last three years (plus) freaked out by the fact that this pustule is actually president of the United States. PTSD takes its toll on survivors of sexual abuse, and the Access Hollywood tape, along with all the other insults to practically everyone who is not a straight, white, Christian, Republican male… Well, yeah, that’s why I have not blogged much since then.
I am disappointed in myself, that I could let one man steal that much joy and power and enthusiasm from me. But see the comment above about my childhood sexual abuse. I learned, very early on, that one man could, indeed, steal my innocence and trust, so why not joy, power, and enthusiasm, too? I mean, he is the president. And he does believe he is all-powerful. (Just don’t look behind the curtain. That fat king is buck naked.) Amy
A chance conversation with a stranger
leads to both of us feeding the Hungry Cup on the sidewalk
A smile on my face, returned
by someone else
leads to just that – our grins
The new couple on the block
passed by with their
happyhappyyippeepuppy
which led me indoors to
appreciate our lazy cat a bit more
The phone call from an old friend
that was actually a text, but quite effective
A prayer answered, the one you didn’t know you needed
Unexpected blessings are the whole point
(c) 2019 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
For ABC Wednesday, the letter U. I must admit, that letter prompted a poem about Ugly, Ubiquitous trUmp, but I thought better of it.
Concentrating on those blessings each day. Trying to get the hang of happiness.
Amy
Simple Summer Pleasures
simple things
seeing sunrise after a good night’s slumber
strrrrrretching to the tune of birdsong
Smell of Sumatran coffee, steaming and silky
A decent back scratch, administered by someone special
Some time in the garden amongst slinky, slimy worms and snickering birds (beaks full of seeds just strewn)
Sitting on the porch, swig of beer, clack of dominoes, sunset smiles
Snuggled on the couch, where in our house,
“Netflix and chill” means
watching an actual movie with the air conditioner on high
Sweet dreams, beautiful summer day
See you at sunrise
© 2019 Amy Barlow Liberatore, Beehat Baby Publishing
Thanks to Roger at ABC Wednesday for this prompt, the letter S. Was just out in the garden, surveying my new raised bed, built for me by Lex and our friend Stephanie. Will probably wax poetic about that little garden soon. Amy
Damn, It’s Cold
I moved to Wisconsin voluntarily – but at this moment,
a simmering resentment is the only thing keeping me warm
Irony: My husband flew out to a conference San Antonio last Sunday
(we may still be married by the time you read this)
Fact: Stir-crazy, I went out to put in supplies (yup, I have a chuck wagon and EVVVV-rything)
People were stocking up on Wisconsin ABCs (Alcohol, Bratwurst, and Cheese)
Out of the market, into an Arctic infarction
A wind that topped out at 50 Degrees Below What The Fuck
It slapped me in the back and swept me off my feet
(Not in a romantic way. In another way.)
And the cold
The cold
Did I mention the cold?
Cold that freezes the snot in your nose
Cold that makes the wax in your ears harden and rattle
Cold that causes panic and anger, makes people drink more than usual (and scream between steins for no discernible reason)
This is the cold of Jack London, of science fiction after the sun dissolves
The cold you tell your grandkids about and they never believe you
Colder than charity
Colder than Melania Trump’s gaze
Damn, that’s cold
© 2019 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
For ABC Wednesday, the letter is D. So, yeah, DAMN! I do love Wisconsin! The snow stays pristine white days after the storm (which beats the cruddy runoff of Manhattan winter). The people are great – and my friends feel SO MUCH BETTER since we voted the revolting Scott Walker out of our lives and into obscurity (unless Trump gives him a job and then fires him).
My problems with this cold snap are minor – so minor, I can find humor in them. But there are folks out on the street. Make sure you send a donation to a shelter, today. Even if you are not in the path of the Arctic Blast, folks need your help. Amy
The bravura president
Toad-bloated and spewing
Managed to piss off Australia on his very first day
(I mean, who does that?)
The emperor has no clothes
(now, that’s one image I wish I could unsee)
We are fully clothed but we feel naked
Hopeless, fatigued, bone weary of the blather
He speaks
We are slack-jawed
and waiting for this mistake, this miscarriage,
this miscreant to go away, anywhere, anyhow
Anyway, we wait
(c) 2018 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
For ABC Wednesday – the letter is U. Thanks to Roger Green, as he came up in my thoughts today. The last time I posted was a year ago (yup, talk about your outrage fatigue: I have been poetry-dry for a long while), the letter was also U. Man, I need to stop letting this crappy president get to me. Amy
Some cry
Some moan
Some bring forth the agonized ululation of ages
Songs of mourning
How shall we express our grief this day?
The heart still beats; life support lingers us on
No death, not yet
But the scent of death
Acrid, stale
A slow, unending vigil at
the deathbed of liberty
(c) 2017 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
Roger Green asked how I am doing. This pretty much says it all. My first post since 45 was inaugurated. We have many names for him, but calling names only cheapens the chilling effect. There is nothing normal, nothing remotely funny about this travesty that is the Trump White House.
ABC Wednesday gave us the letter U. Other words that come to mind: United States and Ugly.
Peace, Amy
THE STORM BEFORE THE CALM
Going on ten p.m.
Ready to relax… reflect… boot down
Don’t forget tomorrow’s appointment,
which means:
Get up early (but I won’t sleep)
Take a shower (so I don’t reek)
But first, tonight, I must
clean up kitchen mess from dinner:
Meats, sweets, culinary treats
Counter’s a bloodbath of
beet juice, nibs, rice shards
Now to bed – first, cat fed
Now to bed – wait, take med
Now to bed – oops, brush teeth
Now to bed – shit, no sheets!
Now to bed – yoga first
(muscles stretch and tension burst)
NOW to bed – meditation
Plug in phone, pull up station
Guarantees a good night’s sleep
(takes two hours and three repeats)
Soothing voices, never boring
Long night’s journey into snoring
© 2016 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
For ABC Wednesday, K is for kerfuffle.
We (I and my bipolar) are currently in manic phase. I downloaded the free “Insight Timer” phone app, and they have everything from soothing music to calm voices talking me through various relaxations. Anyone with insomnia, GET THIS APP!
Unfortunately, when the manic is in sway, I can get through the whole thing with my body buzzingly relaxed and happy, but my mind is still running circles and twisting about. So yeah… my therapist says I may have ADD, but frankly, the bipolar, PTSD, and OCD are quite enough, thank you. Amy
DISSOCIATION
They say I have brain imbalance
I say I have special talents
When attention starts to wander,
what I see, I never squander
Though it seems I’ve gone away
when my glassy eyes hold sway,
I’m right here! Yet, for a minute,
seems like hours I’ve spent within it
Parallel to conscious thought,
there lies treasure – can’t be bought
Worlds of wonder close at hand
when I stray to Neverland
They call it ‘dissociation’
I call it a free vacation
© 2016 Amy Barlow Liberatore/Sharp Little Pencil
For Imaginary Garden With Real Toads’ Tuesday Platform.
My therapist noticed – Lex, too – that I sometimes drift off. I call it, “over there,” just to the right of my conscious being. This was a hallmark of my school years, and it’s probably why I graduated by the skin of my teeth. Now I can enjoy it, because I know what it is and no longer fear it. Don’t worry – I never do it while driving! Peace, Amy
Sharp Little Pencil 