Make Your Mark

How to be an Orange

In the beginning, we are flesh, bone, and earth.

We are tears, sweat, and water.

We are oxygen, dioxide, and air.

In the beginning we are and no one taught us how.

We are before we’ve been conceived, born, or named.

We are before the ways of the world tell us the ways that we, decidedly, are not.

This unlearning is what unties our sure knots of knowing; undoes the intricacies of being; and hides our shoes somewhere under the bed.

We are whole before our one new-in-the-box selves are damaged, outgrown, or lost.

We are “how it is.”

And an orange is an orange is an orange is an orange.

No matter how you slice it.

It was before we ever discovered, tasted, or grew it; and it certainly was before we deigned to slap a label on it.

An orange is an orange is an orange is an orange, undoubtedly, but maybe simply because the world has yet to convince it otherwise.

Self Portrait

The amount I shed in the shower astounds me.

With the hair I lose, I could crown those needing a boost of confidence, making Samsons out of ones who’ve lost their strength. Just a trim off my top could help to clothe the naked and warm the globe with the fibers made of my being.

Excess from my tresses sewn into mats could keep pests out of crops and soak up oil from Earth’s waterways, caring for our planet and helping to feed her people. My twisted strands could come together to make sturdy rope. Single pieces might break with effort, but that cord would not so easily be broken down.

The tentacles now suctioned to the tile could be wound into all that I create, so I would truly be one with the art that keeps me alive. What’s more, I would spin my mane into chairs and nests for passersby to stop and rest, lavished with the gifts entrusted to my DNA.

What a privilege to be such an avid philanthropist.

Big-Ass Black Bird

Oh, to have the confidence of the bird that has commandeered our driveway, strutting like it pays the mortgage and owns the concrete.

To be proud enough to stick my flag and claim a patch of land I have no business claiming, grifting shiny things buried in the torn up street.

To be fearless enough to throw a renegade barbecue in front of a house on a block where I don’t live, pumping up the bass and dancing with my friends to the beat.

Oh, to be so bold.

Volunteer

A sliver of potato

has an idea

forming in the soil.

Its hand goes up.

Pick me.

Interior Decor

Hang a mirror in ev’ry room

All throughout your home

Reflect the sun that’s shining there

A bright and ringing tone

Place one in the entryway

So you can greet your eyes

When they are open widest

Having just spent time outside

Put a mirror in the kitchen

That welcomes and invites

Good company to sit with you

As you enjoy a bite

Affix one in the bathroom

Overtop your sink

I’m told that it’s the best place

To hear the thoughts you think

Adorn the wall above the desk

Where your mind can wander

And dive into creative depths

That fill you up with wonder

Set a mirror on display

Atop the fireplace

You’ll hardly miss a cuckoo clock

When you can see your face

Decorate the bedroom

With a pane upon your bureau

So your smile is first to meet you

When you wake up on the morrow

Hang a mirror ev’ry place

That you can think to do

So it is wholly effortless

To be infinitely you

♡

Thank you for joining me. I am so glad you’re here!