Loose Leaf Notes

1. This is not what I meant by swimming…

2. Having a year-round indoor pool nearby is #1 on my bucket list.

3. Last week I saw a dead possum in the road that someone had attached a balloon to that said ‘Get Well Soon.

4. I dreamt that my dad read a poem that I loved and that moved me. After, I went up to him and said, ”You haven’t written a poem in so long, daddy.” Crying, I said, “You helped me understand who I am and why I do what I do.”

5. After telling the dream to Joe, I said, “I probably wrote that poem (which I couldn’t remember) since it was my dream. My dad made a cameo appearance and covered it.”

6. I want a pink blow-up raft / to drift carefree / in a body of water I belong to / Not like a stone skipping in and out / that plummets to the bottom when it’s done / I want a pink raft more / than a girl wants a Barbie doll / or a pink poodle skirt of quilted satin…

7. I want to fall softly like a single strand of hair / lands on a mirror and sticks / like the windswept curl / that drops across your cheek / and you lift your finger / to put it back in place / I want you to hold me still / while I lie on my back / and float like a petal / like a baby in a cradle / not left to sink or swim – Read about the Pink Raft Therapy HERE.  

8. Malachy McCourt, the brother of Angela’s Ashes author Frank McCourt, is the author of “A Monk Swims,” the title of which is based on his mishearing of the Catholic prayer, The Hail Mary. As a child, I also misheard a line in that same prayer. If Malachy and I had our way, the Hail Mary would read like this: Hail Mary full of grapes (grace) / The Lord is we thee / Blessed art thou A monk swimming (amongst women)…

9. I dreamt I cut off my ear / the way I casually cut fabric / or slice a potato / which made me ask / what other ways do I self-harm? / What other impulsive act /can’t be taken back? / What don’t I want to hear?

10. Do we lose to win / until we have nothing left to give? / Do we pay down our debt / with parts of our self? / Do we give up our borrowed miracles / while starry night lights go out / while fading sunflowers bow / and our busywork winds down… Read What Would Carl Jung Say in its entirety HERE.

11. Green August ages into rust / Days shrink and summer’s wilt crackles / Burdock burrs fatten and threaten to cling / Fireflies like porch lights shut off.

12. Dreaming: “The ongoing effort of our psyche to balance itself takes over, and the dreams counteract what we have done to imbalance our psychological selves.” Carl Jung

13. “The whole world is a series of miracles but we’re so used to seeing them that we call them ordinary things.” Hans Christian Anderson

_______Thirteen Thursday