Earthplace Visitor

After the Chicago Blizzard

2011-02-04T20:28:00.006-06:00

A young woman presses her way under entwined branches, through thin air and over sheltering snow - I don't know where she was going to or coming from but it didn't matter. In passing she offered a smile in that way that people surrender when the obvious is apparent.

The day was painfully cold offering warmth only in the form of a photograph.

After the Blizzard of 2011...

Drazzilb’s Small Blessing

2011-02-02T13:57:00.011-06:00

-Groundhog Day 2011

The window view is white
Scattered fat specks speed by
blowing horizontally to whistling wind
Accumulation appears soft, pillowed
four foot drifts, waves and rolls
blanket yards and streets
Attempts to tackle Drazzilb
must be deferred.

Chicago radio announces world news
but its own white blight interferes
Heat in Egypt calls to
Mubarak for a step down
Yet, that heat is too far
to melt the snow.

Natural light today, very bright
Chicago fireplace blazing homes
colorful comfort contrasts
lake-effect white-ed
window sights

Twelve hours have passed
Drazzilb, you are persistent
Phone systems are down
Utility companies staffed
short, watch the town
closely for emergencies

Like Lake Shore Drive
closed is my home door now
But, warmth where I write
is locked in.

Above Pikes Peak -January

2011-01-16T16:26:00.000-06:00

Snow speckled

tundra sloping
shadowed crevices
cloud suspensions
pink glazing
rocked soil

Colorado's
neatly pinched
peaks aligned
majestically capped
white icing
displayed below
cold blue light

The place
to escape
from self

Forever
hardened.
_______________
Pikes Peak

Home of Yesterday

2011-01-09T17:55:00.000-06:00

Lovely

Warm
-early morning gold
slowly bleeds through
draped windows

Fluffy
-down comforter
supports small arch
above buttocks

Oasis
-walls muralled
asian mountains
escape to calm

Carpeted
-mahogony bannistered
staircase soft
quiet underfoot

Coffee
-aromas travel high
senses levitate body
from bed to kitchen

Alone
-all but one
abandoned this

Home
-of yesterday

Now
-meaningless shell
memory hurts

Time
-has come
to leave

Empty.

Purifying Path

2010-11-30T12:47:00.002-06:00

transitioning into the what, the when,
sinking into my uneasiness while traveling in this path,
considering the first law of thermodynamics:
'energy cannot be created nor destroyed, it can only be transformed'

in this transformation,
my doubts swell constantly asking 'what if'
the gap is what makes me uneasy,
but then again, we only get one shot,
we don't get to experiment with multiplicity.

i consider the possibility of being one
with a cloud, or a flower,
or the shining rays of sun cutting
through a rain drop
in the magic cloud forest.

I did not know this was 'the' path
until I was well into it,
the way back is as difficult as the way forward,
so there's no turning back.

this purifying path, does not take away
the stickiness of my humanity,
does not take away the suffering,
does not provide a 'spiritual high',
but succumbs in humility to the ordinary,
the sisterhood, the least common denominator
with my fellow suffering beings.

'a broken heart is an open heart'
i heard someone say...

hypnotic, the trek and the mountains swell my knees,
up, down, winding, unyielding,
sun, rain, mist, creatures,
insects, flowers, calling songs, magic,

-all that seemed glorious the first day came to hurt me next,
and seemed quite a nuisance by the third...

just like life - it was a struggle to see it all new again.

just like life - when it was nearing a close, i did not want it to end.

but the changing thread of events in this fabric
-one woven, another one torn-
are the endless opportunities
given to me in order to grow.

dear God -if you exist-
i shall stop making demands of your proof
i only ask that i be brought down
to understanding who i can be
and i ask that I can believe in me,
give me swords, help me fight my ghosts.

i believe in me, i believe in my power to transform.

Place of Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T22:32:00.020-06:00

Midwest.USA

Greetings of chiming carillon
burning sage blessings
drumming to elders
who have passed
Remembrance

Among us there are hungry
People have come together
to awaken thoughts
of the needy, and
to help them

As we are gathered
remember our good earth
with all of its bounty
Let us learn to share

Cherokee drum and chants
lend all to come
with new prayers

Come Hindu chanter
hymns of peace

Come Hebrew brethren
for all chant prayer blessings
on our land
our good land

Come Buddhist
share your consciousness
for enlightenment

Come Muslim brothers and sisters
Remind all worlds
of the sea life
of those who take to sky
of those who walk on land
of those whom we don't know.

Come message from Japan
"You who sow sparingly will reap the same way"
Generosity to others
keep all blessed and strong

Come Sanctus, sanctus
Come benevolent Congolese
Share love and happiness
in excelsis

Let friends and music come
Together in thanks
we share blessings

Let bald babies bounce on
laps of loving parents while
children's voices sing

Sun thawed frozen leaves
and warmed morning grounds
Gratitude and appreciation
honor this day's
Thanksgiving.

jfb.2010

Poetry Foundation presents...A Night of Poets Theater

2010-11-23T13:19:00.000-06:00

A Night of Poets Theater: "Poetry magazine collaborates on a unique experiment in which six local poets have 48 hours to conceive, rehearse, and perform a program of Poets Theater. The poets’ only tools are a copy of The Kenning Anthology of Poets Theater: 1945-1985 and light technical support." Click title link for more details.

Oracle Theatre
3809 North Broadway
Free admission Reservations recommended
Poetry Foundation

Public transit entertainment on the web...

2010-11-20T20:34:00.000-06:00

How about THE PEOPLE OF PUBLIC TRANSIT?

Big City Bus Creativity

2010-11-20T00:20:00.080-06:00

Riding the bus can be a very creative act

Here's how

first
carefully chose the appropriate outfit
it has to be comfortable
and it has to cover your skin

This will save you from worry
about the cookie crumbs and cooties
encountered on some seats

secondly,
find out what the bus fare costs

You don't want to look like a pastime rider
but a very seasoned one who
knows what to take precautions against

thirdly,
be sure you wear a sturdy pair
of comfortable shoes that allow you to run and jump

You never know when
someone may step on your feet, or
you have to run to the back door and jump off
while the bus is still moving

You just never know
so be prepared

Carry a bag with a Velcro closure
or a loud zipper that makes an ugly noise when opened
This will embarrass a pick-pocketer

Now, gear ready for your adventure
make good use time on the bus

Be alert and pay attention
to everything and everyone
for inspiration

Writers, take good notes
Be warned to write in metaphors
because someone is watching
over your shoulder, reading all
the sh_ _ you capture on paper

...Really.

My most mysterious writings have come
from bus rides, watching lava lamp waves
reflect off of night-bus windows -

Such transformed images of passengers
surrounding the footsteps sized space
I occupy during an unseated journey
to feed creativity

Pretend you belong to multiplying
urban micro-cultures that sometimes
fester on worn-to-a-fringe seats
carried in steel containers
by black rubber Michelin's

Take a mental stroll
riding in the carriage

Let yourself go...
there

More importantly, when your imaginary self arrives,
be sure to do something crazy

The next stop is
yours.

SEDONA

2010-11-08T21:38:00.000-06:00

A Letter from Zeb. April 2009. Sedona, AZ

I'm Zeb.. Me and My two oldest friends on earth stayed at L & J's Grasshopper Lane home for several
days.. We simply Loved Sedona.. We found our Chi..

Things we did..

Great Breakfast... At the MacDonald's strip mall. 1/2 a mile from the house. CAFE JOSE Restaurant. 2370 West Highway 89A (928) 282-0299. BEST breakfast EVER.. Especially the mexican food...

We climbed the mountains a 1/4 of a mile from Coffee Pot and Hwy 89A, and Airport Mesa in search of Male and Female vortexes... Very Good Kama.

Sedona is cold this time of year bring early spring wear with you and your favorite hiking shoes.

People in Sedona are active, go out all of the time. We did everything from going to the library, climbing mountains and driving the Sedona park loop.. Get up early and go.

The brewery is 3 blocks from the house across from Bashas supermarket.. Twice a week is drum night don't miss it.. Good Chi. and the fire pit is were the local hang. Buy the 5 dollar lager and keep the glass as a souvenirs.

Everybody we came in contact with had such good Kama.. Simply wonderful...

Sedona State Park TAKE the TOUR!! We had a blast it was two hours but it was great orientation guide to the names of the mountains, the plant and tree & water life.

Our big Money adventure, we went the VERDE CANYON Railroad in Clarksdale outside Cottonwood.( on the coffee table Sedona Chamber of Commerce book has the info. page 4?) Fabulous Adventure. If you decide to do this BOOK early. Cheaper for the coach, you will be outside in the viewing car for most it. We ended up going first class for $71. ea with the AAA discount. The train Departure time is 1:00. Good early
around 9:00 stop in downtown Cottonwood and go to Tuzigoot National Park. You can see the train station from the park. Cost 5 dollars to see the museum.. Its only worth five but you are there.

On our way home we stopped at Larry's Antiques 796 North Main Street Cottonwood (928) 639-1822 closes at five? We went back to Cottonwood just go to Larry's there is a lot of the Southwest in this Junk Store... Cool Vortex...

Homemade ice cream sucks in Sedona ..Save your Money. Old Sedona is not to be missed. Food. So-so.

Kaisers Restaurant is a local gin mill with better food..

Jewelry..

Coming down the canyon out of Flagstaff. or travel north on 89A pass the two round-abouts. and continue up the canyon around the Dairy Queen the local indian families sell hade made jewelry. Good People haggling is fun. LOOK at EVERYTHING first then buy.. Buy Local. Nice Energy here...

Enchantment Resort 525 Canyon Road Sedona.. Yup a resort.. a friend suggested this.. All the movies Stars stay here. Go for LUNCH 928-204-6055. We ordered the 15 dollar burgers. The resort is beautiful, and the FOOD was the BEST EVER!!! Yup a 15 dollar burger.. it's worth 25.

Our trip was so wonderful.. I can only compare to this.. When you leave High School and go on you realize some time later that you closed the door on high School and you are in a different spot... I walked into Sedona and my life was changed when we left.. I wish you the same.. I hear the tap water you drink in Sedona is so good, 2500 years old.. or it just might be the wind that whipped through my soul...

Lastly, at night.. The Milky Way is not a candy bar...

Be blessed, enjoy your Safari...

Good Kama

Zeb

Admiration for The Chair

2010-11-07T11:57:00.000-06:00

Amazing is your previously soaked cane that now glistens with a variable patina of gold.

Crisp looking, yet pliable you hold the weight of a strong back and heavy buttocks of soft skin that despite clothing, can seep, just a bit, through your sieve.

Your Cattail sieve onto where sand swallows once lit, casts a trampoline weave that wears a halo where its shadows on the floor are seen.

You claim a modest, yet handsome presence.

Commanding love are your smooth sexy arms with supporting teak elbows.

Your sleek legs, allow airflow and elevates the impressing and expressing seat from ground.

You warm cold corners and soften room angles.

Delicately smooth, your soft support yet sturdy stance wears character.

Nineteen Forty-nine armchair, you are "The Chair."

place: The Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago

IMAGINING BARCELONA

2010-11-02T12:59:00.001-05:00

What will this day create
from Barcelona
People made of clay
hold hands high

Gaudy reaches hilltops
landscape shadows sky
architectural cement
buildings cascade

Mediterranean town
Tibidabo tops
Collserola hills hang
city background

Look out to view haze
protecting ancient
beauties below clouded grays
blurred melon hues
Promenade surfaces underneath
create the up view
reversed for missed details
of high searches

Today Barcelona
ornaments pierce the sky
Stone people soften then cry,
“Come, you with peace

Have crustaceans of the sea
Drink wine cold and red
Stroll beach sands before bed
paint the city of lights
make love without end
before this night brightens
and we harden again."

To Dinner in July

2010-07-10T12:39:00.005-05:00

(Hyde Park, Chicago- USA)

Green hydrangia snips
chocolate dress flairs
westerly wind blows

Window air conditioner
motors hum, dripping water
crackles concrete glazes

reflective sunlit path
Purposeful stride passes
unintended entrances

Arrived

Flip flop bottomed foot
curlsteps wooden threshold
Warmed feet and shoulders

cloaked slowly by cold
turned cool, calm climate
controlled rustic room

to dine. Ty-RA, ta-
ta, Mom-mi Ting voice
sound spoken language

Four family diners
small talk
small square table
small square red checked tablecloth

drapes four corners
four pairs that bookend
intertwined fingers of hands folded
rounds set for notice as patience

Observed

Table for one please.

Clang, flatware falls
klink-klack, it touches glass
kitchen music

No sound of chop-chop splunk
cleaver and vegetables can
be deciferred to please senses,

although, aroma...
Fresh bread and grilling onions
an ahh.

Chip-chip
chat-chat food talk
nice not loud.

Deeply inhale to sort
the pleasure here
for now.

THE WAIT

2010-07-07T08:15:00.000-05:00

(McCormick Place-Chicago)

I don’t think
she has the time
Bored
He has his masters
Yet
like that big deal
That
he is really nice
Only
it’s part of his persona
After
Tufts shrink wrapper
Lotion
laughter so hard
Listen
when do we start
Anyone
else? It’s one-thirty
Gets
off at King Drive
Chateau
Montele 2005
Tight
smooth and big
Bursts
blame mouth blue
Drunk.

Konoba Lokanda Peskarija (a fisheria)

2009-11-12T06:05:00.005-06:00

So
another day here
I am back

to dine
at Konoba Lokanda
Peskarija.

This seaside
bar restaurant is found
at the fishing port

where
boats are docked near
nautical ruins.

This seaside
local hot spot
again, feels lonely.

Perhaps
it is early
what luck for a seat.

Here
an eclectic décor
displays pirate masks

on a scale,
an old Singer
sewing machine

on a barrel
propped atop a wine rack
next to a pie cabinet

American looking
strangely enough,
and, another wine

rack
stores old dusty bottles
of wine.

No one

else has arrived

yet

I will

eat here from a pot

made of black iron

filled with grilled

squid, sardines, garlic

and wedge sliced lemons.

I will

drink dark Loska beer

cold, no head.

Here comes

the thick country bread

and olive oil.

I raise my glass

to toast all new

friends

but none have come

so I toast the wait-staff

I cannot see

because they work

so hard at Konoba

Lokanda Peskarija

to serve me

here, although I dine

alone

until

another day when

I return

to eat, drink

and meet at Konoba

Lokanda Peskarija.

Dubrovnik Slide Show

2009-11-12T04:57:00.000-06:00

Adriatic Coast

2009-11-10T16:27:00.007-06:00

Walk

along the sea shore.

Stones, pale pink

better to call them rocks

pale pink with dark brown crevices.

The blue

very blue water is just foaming

crashing

swirling

turning around

making gorgeous music

for you

just you.

It sings with a chorus

a chorus of blue bubbles

as a dress train

following

the sea

actively flowing out and rolling

for you

with white caps

where perhaps

a new tide bides

for me

too.

Old Town Dubrovnik

2009-11-09T08:22:00.018-06:00

I was left alone

until I saw him.

If this is not St. Blaise, who is it?

Your search is on...

Midwest October Love

2009-11-03T22:30:00.000-06:00

October was ominously beautiful

with its many storm filled skies

clouds with shapes like thick

milky skins, stretched long

pushed to gather like wrinkled fat

a protective skin layered

to cover us and shadow our lake.

Those October days were overcoat cold.

Grounds remained wet from so much

rain - the leaves of the trees turned

gold, and some to flame.

Bold tree attitudes, tall to blame

for demanding attention, they

absorbed a lot of the rain.

Like thirsty athletes, they stood

strong, holding onto their leaves

during winds whirled

as long as they could

for us to see colorful crowns

underneath the only three

or four days of sunglow that was

ominously beautiful.

On October’s end days,

leaves dropped to the ground

over the ponds and porch stairs.

All the hard bottom surfaces

onto which we stepped were carpeted

with moist and colorful

leaf curls that looked

ominously beautiful.

Secrets flourished in small villages

behind doors, and in big city

skyscrapers with many floors.

Those are places good secrets

can be found, where people who love

cuddled, tucked away, keeping sound

take time to find beauty that goes beyond

autumn turns. People who love,

hold kind truths together

to nourish their lives. Together,

they will conquer the ominous

with beauty beyond the obvious,

within their own eternal sublime.

Sunday morning at the RENAISSANCE hotel -Chicago

2009-10-25T08:48:00.011-05:00

On the seventh floor
at the Renaissance
a hotel near the O'Hare
airport, I awaken.

5:20 am

What am I going to do

but look out through the window?

Charcoal sky

Just light enough to see some

variable clouds,

just enough light pollution from

the street lamps,

to cast a tan horizon underneath

that sky.

No airplanes go by.

Occasional

traffic lights - double curves.

Head lights come my way.

Red lights on the right dissipate

like tiny

red periods flashing to be claimed by

that sky.

No airplanes go by.

5:25 am

What am I going to do?

Get up. Lower the shade.

Start some coffee.

Start some Sunday morning music.

Listen. Ramirez's, Missa Criolla;

it softly sings

me back to sleep

but, just for a while.

I did not hear
any airplanes go by.

6:00 am

What am I going to do?

Get coffee. Start my day.

An airplane goes by.

Picasa Web Albums - k_murphy704 - Comer Kids Classic

2009-10-24T19:37:00.000-05:00

Picasa Web Albums - k_murphy704 - Comer Kids Classic

Evening in the AGORA, Paris

2009-10-24T18:48:00.010-05:00

In a room on the third floor of the Agora hotel, I pace the floor with evening thoughts.

The cobble stone street has finally quieted; although, it is still wet from the wash down done after the café owners cleared away the table and chairs. The blue glow on the French windows is the same that floods onto the streets with occasional highlights from the gas lamp sconces posted every 25 feet or so, on the limestone building across the way. The air this evening started out cool and fresh. But now, I can smell the thickening smoke from a cigarette coming from somewhere; I don’t care to know exactly where. Although curious about the smoker, I will not take to the window in my skimpy pajama blouse. Besides, I would not want to push aside the curtain that I’m watching billow by the breeze of the night air.

Arched window by arched window that I see across the court way, have various colors that change according to the light intensity behind them. Those windows are intimidating with shadows that pass in no certain pattern of time. I feel there may be someone who has nothing to do but look though my windows,s for whatever they may see when the curtains are blown apart by the wind. I ask myself, what could be so awful about that? I suppose I’m only afraid of nothing, except my fear of what that nothing may be.
07/2009.

2009-10-23T10:37:00.003-05:00

On October 18, 2009 A group called Poet Care walked 5K as a fundraiser for Comer Children's Hospital. Here they stand near Lake Michigan on that beautiful, but chilly day.

meet me by the water

2009-09-30T21:41:00.000-05:00

meet me by the water:
we’ll count the waves
we’ll stop the breathing
we’ll ache the weaving
of pulses that make up
this complex never-less
ending

dip into the depths
inch by inch
step by step
watch the water rise
its touch up your olive skin
donate your dreams
offload your worries

ask

and you shall be given

meet me by the water
where new beginnings
don’t exist
only transformations
into the new you…
the new us…
the new self
the new wholeness

and ask

without expecting
an answer

because

it is what it is
and the answer is already
tattooed into your fingers
as the lady who levitated

for no one else
will you smile
but for yourself

meet me by the water

count up to nine
and bring into being:
bhavanga

your self
simply wants to be
true

Block Party

2009-09-19T16:07:00.003-05:00

ROCKING TYPE

SUSHI

WORD

COLLECTOR COOKIES

LIABILITIES

MILLERS

Puppies and brown bears

live in the peaceful

NEW

WORLD

RED THONGS come along . . .

BACK AND FORTH in denim pants

SOMEONE DECIDES.

THE THREE GRACES need a table

RIDGEWOOD COURT

Search grounds

tattoos, dragon

flies

nowhere can be found.

SUPPORT KIDS

HOSPITALIZED

At the

other end, ADULTS play

card games and consume

alcohol.

MARY POPPINS WORLD

BLOCK PARTY.