Urbane
It's strange sometimes how an organized period of 6 or 7 days can change one's life entirely.
Last Wednesday, my lady-friend from Canada came down, and we became "official." Call me old-fashioned, but I sometimes I like formalities. I think formal and recognized agreements serve their purposes sometimes. So, I have a girl-friend now, officially. It has certainly been a while for that. I'm sure it will go well, even though it is long distance for the time being. It does suck to see her off and know I won't get to see her for weeks at a time, but, we are making efforts to see each other at least every month for 5-6 days, and honestly, with me in graduate school and her in a full time career, 5-6 days of "us" time is all we might get if we were in the same city anyways. It would be nice just to see her...but...thats the way the cookie crumbled.
On Saturday, I moved to Portland, the city. I reside in student housing. That is right...after 24 years of life, after living in apartments and with my parents, I have moved into a dorm. Being a studio, single occupancy, it actually doesn't feel too much different than my apartment, except for someone deciding to put a cut-out of Scrooge McDuck on my door with my name on it. Cute. Just to give an idea, I have a class roughly around noon, like I did last semester. Here is how I dealt with that then, and now. THEN: Wake up at 10:00, shower, get ready. 10:30- Drive to catch a bus, 10:45-10:55 (variable) catch that bus. 11:35 Arrive 4 blocks away from my class. 11:39 walk into my building and converse with other students waiting for the room to open up at 11:50. NOW: Wake up with enough time to walk 3 blocks to class.
So, a week ago I was in some kind of relationship limbo, and I lived with my parents. Now, I live by myself int he city of Portland, and I am a taken man. Weird, huh?
Here comes the last installment of some poems I wrote during the summer/fall.
My Hand in Yours
Days go by.
I am,
for now,
your ghost.
.
I pass the time whispering
into the sleeping ears
of your distant body,
and remembering...
-untitled-
Somethin bout you smokey women
it just breaks my heart.
Doin like Mr. Brown says,
lettin it all hang out,
flipping your hair while you inhale,
giving it a twirl when you exhale.
I think of it as
getting my own
firebreathing
show.
I know I am cheating here, but I wanted to post something that I have read. I started to read Li Po, not half because Bukowski recommends him, and I have been pleasantly rewarded. I really appreciate that a branch of Chinese poetry existed which embraced the "sage in the cup," that is, drinking wine until the ego goes away and spontaneous, unfettered verse flows freely. Here you go.
On Hsin-P'ing Tower
On this tower as I leave our homeland,
late autumn wounds thoughts of return,
and heaven long, a setting sun far off,
this cold clear river keeps flowing away.
Chinese clouds rise from mountain forests;
Mongol geese on sandbars take flight.
A million miles azure pure - the eye
reaches beyond what ruins our lives.
Last Wednesday, my lady-friend from Canada came down, and we became "official." Call me old-fashioned, but I sometimes I like formalities. I think formal and recognized agreements serve their purposes sometimes. So, I have a girl-friend now, officially. It has certainly been a while for that. I'm sure it will go well, even though it is long distance for the time being. It does suck to see her off and know I won't get to see her for weeks at a time, but, we are making efforts to see each other at least every month for 5-6 days, and honestly, with me in graduate school and her in a full time career, 5-6 days of "us" time is all we might get if we were in the same city anyways. It would be nice just to see her...but...thats the way the cookie crumbled.
On Saturday, I moved to Portland, the city. I reside in student housing. That is right...after 24 years of life, after living in apartments and with my parents, I have moved into a dorm. Being a studio, single occupancy, it actually doesn't feel too much different than my apartment, except for someone deciding to put a cut-out of Scrooge McDuck on my door with my name on it. Cute. Just to give an idea, I have a class roughly around noon, like I did last semester. Here is how I dealt with that then, and now. THEN: Wake up at 10:00, shower, get ready. 10:30- Drive to catch a bus, 10:45-10:55 (variable) catch that bus. 11:35 Arrive 4 blocks away from my class. 11:39 walk into my building and converse with other students waiting for the room to open up at 11:50. NOW: Wake up with enough time to walk 3 blocks to class.
So, a week ago I was in some kind of relationship limbo, and I lived with my parents. Now, I live by myself int he city of Portland, and I am a taken man. Weird, huh?
Here comes the last installment of some poems I wrote during the summer/fall.
My Hand in Yours
Days go by.
I am,
for now,
your ghost.
.
I pass the time whispering
into the sleeping ears
of your distant body,
and remembering...
-untitled-
Somethin bout you smokey women
it just breaks my heart.
Doin like Mr. Brown says,
lettin it all hang out,
flipping your hair while you inhale,
giving it a twirl when you exhale.
I think of it as
getting my own
firebreathing
show.
I know I am cheating here, but I wanted to post something that I have read. I started to read Li Po, not half because Bukowski recommends him, and I have been pleasantly rewarded. I really appreciate that a branch of Chinese poetry existed which embraced the "sage in the cup," that is, drinking wine until the ego goes away and spontaneous, unfettered verse flows freely. Here you go.
On Hsin-P'ing Tower
On this tower as I leave our homeland,
late autumn wounds thoughts of return,
and heaven long, a setting sun far off,
this cold clear river keeps flowing away.
Chinese clouds rise from mountain forests;
Mongol geese on sandbars take flight.
A million miles azure pure - the eye
reaches beyond what ruins our lives.