In a landscape of having to repeat.
Noticing that she does, that he does and so on.
The underlying cause is as absent as rain.
Yet one remembers rain even in its absence and an attendant quiet.
If illusion descends or the very word you’ve been looking for.

(Read the rest here. Poem by Martha Ronk)

Arranged by the water and the waves, graced by feathers and light.

Even as everyone begins to upload their best fall colors, my mind and heart are still on the beach.

Is there anything better than running along the water’s edge at sunset? Especially a magnificent sunset like this one.

wandering on Union Square
sensing fragmented
shades of blue
with a splash of the
occasional taxi
carting drunk lovers
miserable businessmen,
the hungry and horny alike
prowling shaded plastic
hearts on the corner.
handheld impressions,
so many locked
in electric prisons,
even me,
peeking around the corner,
at the red light
hunting for the escape hatch
at the end
of the block.

hearts on four corners
some bleeding, others hard
some starving enough to approach
beggardly appealing
for money, for love
(attention on a summer night)
humanity encased in
an iPhone, or that
Blackberry over there,
technology united.
one division
over all, so
urgent, so
much need,
urgency of now
urgency of awakening
urgency of hunger,
life trickling down
a garbage-filled gutter,
while we spill our guts
in 140 characters or less.

taxis speed, screech
horns blare their incessant need.
lights, always lights,
shiny, ephemeral,
insistent in the night
not one caution light here,
just go or stop.
Don’t slow down.

midnight on union square
that inky place inside
the impossible,
sowing possibility
the lonely stay lonely
(but sometimes get lucky)
like that guy over there.
I sometimes wonder
Is distance lucky?
Or just safe?

midnight on union square
insecure security,
proximity too near,
and yet
it catches me up short,
cries
danger
distance
barriers
dark corners,
flashing reds…

while all the time
trading fours on mellow
old guitars or
chipped trumpets,
riffing
bygone tunes
in random keys
at midnight.

Yep, we have fall colors here, too. What a great day — the weather finally turned nippy and cool, the way October should feel, after 90+ degree temperatures earlier this week.

And now you know the secret - California is not a seasonless, bland place. We have seasons, and colors, and clouds, even.

And an extra added bonus for Barack Obama fans: Stencil downloads for carving your own Obama pumpkins

There are days where a simple reminder is called for: that all isn’t lost, that we’re not on the fast track to doom, that grapes still ripen on the vine, that the sun still rises and sets, and tomorrow brings something, even one thing, that’s cause for a smile and gratitude.

Today was one of those days. Tomorrow may be one, too. But still, gratitude for light falling on a bunch of grapes stashed away under the fence.