January:
Snow has fallen. It sparkles in the sunlight, gleaming like diamonds. It hides the yellow-brown grass and the dry ground, creating a clean, white sheet, covering the old, awaiting the new. A perfect greeting to the New Year.
School will start soon; work will return; but everything seems fresh and ready. Last year’s trials and hardships are past. This year lies before us, and we must begin anew.
February:
When the dawn begins to peek through the heavy drapes, I roll over.
Kuyper grimaced. “On a scale of one to ten, how bad do you think it would be if—“
“At least a twenty.” The crusty old man finished Kuyper’s sentence abruptly. He threw a contemptuous glance in his direction. “Now. If you’ll leave me to my own business, I’d be glad to lock the door behind you.” He turned away, heading for the back door of the shop.
“No, no, no.” Kuyper slid between him and the door. “No. Not until you tell me who you are. And how you got that thing.”
“What thing.” His voice sounded like it was in an old can.
Bejeweled Gills
of instant gratification.
of a wasted hour,
weekly.
how much food to give
how much attention
how warm will the water rest.
Just recently, I read a story on the news that caught my attention. It was about a teenage boy, who ran away from home. After using the money he had brought with him, he decided to start selling drugs and lived off of what he earned for several years. And when ruin found him, he slept outside, homeless and destitute. It was in this state that he asked himself what he was doing there and why he had run away from home; and he decided to go back.
It was snowing again.
Little boy with your cheeks so pink
And your eyes so blue
Tell me what's new with you?
Little one with your rocket high dreams
Laughter bubbling in streams
Oh I'll miss you, I'll miss you I will
Please
Stay little forever
I don't know what I would do
I would do without the little you
Oh, please
I'll remember forever
How your hand fits right in mine
How you smile every time
Oh little you
In the series of essays The Language of Bacteria, we discussed some ways that bacteria are able to fight against us. Specifically, we know that bacteria can protect themselves under coated biofilms, or they can pass around genes to make them unresponsive to antibiotics.
Trek through the hills of the Northwest’s Sierra Nevada, and you will find red soils peppered with some smooth, waxy rocks called Serpentinite. Attractively streaked with greens and blues, serpentine, as it is locally known, is a type of metamorphic rock with quite the fascinating history. To begin, let’s take a glimpse into a chapter of geology known as Plate Tectonics.
Smiling in the shadows
where everyone watches
cat eyes gleaming
In the dark...
Pressing, inquiring, investigating
the feelings I've yet
to discuss with myself.
Heart soaring with affirmations
his sweet tongue expressing admiration.
Oh my, exhilaration
Jubilation
Hesitation
Confidence falters as my disbelief
is manufactured by past wound's practicality...
Is it all real?
Or does my flirtation
Get lost in translation?
****
It's not made of clay,