notions

Worry is darker water rising up
through clear water of the space
where clear water is.

Worry is nothing. My mind wandering
on its own to fill up space of
not knowing.

Before nothing comes
my mind wants to play and
make up a new story of
what might be.

The sun hushes my mind
by warming my back. She catches
my attention.

My mind is pretending
to be separate.

at the same time I know
I am one and feel hungry
to connect what feels
separate.

I am hungry to be
where I am. This moment.
The clarity of being here.

The Roadtrip

Roadtrip through Eastern Washington into Idaho
to Silverwood. Mother's Day, my daughters' treat.
Shared driving time and the most astounding rainbows
reaching across the horizon.

Music for the slideshow is provided by Daniel Ho

in his "Coolest Drop of Rain".

Enjoy!

Ruben from the Sky

Ruben from the sky
come down fragile envelope
of lights

oh soft landing
from fragments of the world
come down

from rain of everything
muffled silence
the child's heart

oh hesitant movement.

When he is older
he will tell you
I remember my mother
and my father

I poked my brother
he poked me back
we fussed and mother
scolded us

so we sat quiet and buckled
and my eyes were full
of all the people,
the windows out to everywhere

and then I remember the nothing
there were flashes and colors
and I flew into them

someone held my hand
saying in my language
on their lips

there is no fear
I hold your hand
there is no fear

and there was singing
yes that was it
coming closer between night
the lights

all the pieces
still falling from my sky.





for the only survivor

Desert Eagle

Into the common rooms it flew filling us with feathers,
hollow bones, Indian song of the desert and sun
and our hearts fell into our feet as he looked around.
I think his eyes were gold. He shuffled his feathers
down and looked right at me and I wanted to back
away but he took my hand and lead me to the next
life and while we were flying in the darkness I heard
chanting and songs and I saw my life as a book of
pages and on the way we read his book too.

Colors came back, light poured under the walls
when we hooked our feet to the earth again.
He was a slightly crooked man, tall and lean and he
held a walking stick with the head of a snake. He pointed
to the four walls of the day, to sun climbing ladders,
to the magic pouring from my hands and he
said this is good and flew away.





For the man from the desert who lost part of his brain

and liked to tell his story in photographs.

Saturation

There is no flood. Rain is a dancer
entertaining two eagles hunched in their
half-made nest, limbs, sticks, giant's hair
hanging down from it, rooted in the crook
of a massive tree. When separated,
long, open-throated they sing to each other.

Did I sing to you? I heard you
struck by the thought of losing me.
Like the eagles, unmistakable.
And sitting at the movies
holding hands like strangers,
it washed over me, love.
Unavoidable. No choice left
but to kiss you
and it happened
all over again.

I can feel you thinking of me
here at the farm in the dark
and rain, candles in my eyes
and you, a hundred miles away
put your hand to my heart.
I look down almost seeing it.

The eagles turn their heads
toward each other, shake the rain
off, nudge closer warmed
by the fire behind the prayers
of their chest.





for M.

c2010 T.L. Stokes/Flood Water Photography

(all rights reserved for all content and photos in this blog)

Untitled

A tree torn by its roots
hovers over the neighbor's house.
The wind is long gone.
You prop a ladder under it,
decide what to do next.
The plan grows like a seedling
in your brain, I see a forest,
mysterious spirits in green,
moss and mud colored clothing.
Little stone benches
for sitting and thinking.
A glowing sky high overhead.
Work benches, tools
neatly placed like silverware.
Ladders, all sizes, stacked.
Hobbit doors to secrets.
Windows in the trees.
I could lie all day inside of you,
inside tender thoughts
bright blue like streams.
I duck, when confused,
or angry a storm brews.
I sit on a princess chair
by the largest tree.
Umbrella in my small hand.
Cherry blossoms
come down from nothing.
The air turns rose.

Everything around me
is the sound of a heart.







for M's brain

I-90 at the Snoqualmie Casino Exit

Everywhere rain gathers like smoke.

We become ghosts spreading

like wet feathers over the blacktop.

Yesterday a sports car inhaled its metal

sides resting upside down off the freeway.

Men in colored gear walked with heavy

feet carrying the jaws of life. Witnesses

frozen in poses told the story:

how it happened, what hit when,

what it sounded like. The moment

what we consider normal, stops. Time,

yes that's it, flounders, wobbles away

from where we thought our feet were.

From then on, it's our heartbeat

we listen to.