Mother Earth and Copy Cats

I am a copy cat. My best friend is always ten steps ahead of me...well...technically, she's typically 9 months or so ahead of me. Anyway, she stumbled upon some of her poetry from high school and decided to post some on her blog. This move has inspired me to dig up some old poetry to post, because, well, as I stated just a moment ago, I am a copy cat. I, however, might add some new poetry...or blatherings, because that's how I roll.

Sadly, because I am in the midst of packing, I could only locate some poems from college, 1995, to be exact. I was 20 years old.

Unlike Myself

A small piece of paper,

has

been ripped

to shreds.

In the fists of a small child,

the shreds

have been

cast into

the sea.

There they float

and scatter

and land

all around

me.

No

you cannot picture a place

because there isn't one.

You cannot see the person

because she is not there.

And you cannot read this poem

because, unlike myself,

you are not here.

Hmmm, what was that about? I'll never remember...my room mate had introduced me to wine around the time I wrote this. I know - yes, I drank wine, BRIEFLY. It was from a local vineyard in Fredonia...and...well...I was 20 -I'd drink anything I could get my hands on.

And here are my current, up to date musings on Mother Earth.

Listen

Mother Earth speaks to me.

I know you are not surprised.

I am silly like that,

letting the earth talk to me

and assuming she's motherly.

Mother Earth speaks to me...

from a tree on a hill over looking a lake

she whispers...."come home"

from the breeze on the trees, the first butterfly I've seen

she whispers.... "come play"

from a place deep in my womb, still warm with life

she whispers....

What it all boils down to...

The big question everybody has been asking me is, why do you want to leave Texas?

Well, for the record, we never came here to stay. It was always temporary. I never, ever dreamed I would make a family here like I did. I never imagined the amazing kinds of people I would meet and want to have close to me forever. Needless to say, Texas was just something we had to do. We are glad we did, we will never regret the choice to come out here.

That said, it's been hard explaining to people why we need to leave. I don't have a bad life here, at all. Economically, for us, Texas is cheaper than NY. I often say it's because Bill isn't happy - all he does here is work. And while that is true, it's not the whole picture.

And it's not just to get back to the amazing family I made for myself in that wonderful little place I called home in upstate NY. Oh, believe me, it's a BIG, BIG part. Enormous. But they, too, are just part of the big picture.

While in the shower just now, it came to me, what the big question all boils down to. And here it is: When I ask my boys, "Which park do you want to go to today?" I DON'T want the response to be, "The one by the McDonald's that has a rocket ship playground." I want it to be more like, "The one with the tree that looks like a scarecrow when it's leaves fall off," or "The one with the lake that's shaped like Mickey Mouse's head." Also, I really want to ask them, "Which mountain should we climb this weekend?"

(For my Texas readers, where I come from in upstate NY, the mountains are very, very old and not very big...not most of them, anyway. Many can be "climbed" (walked/hiked) in an afternoon.) Oh man...I miss them so much....

I digress.

So there it is. I know I have not written much lately. Life is a bit of a whirlwind just now. Balancing out financial ruin against spiritual happiness isn't as easy as it sounds. I will fill you in as thing progress. For now, all I can say is, let happiness prevail!!!!!