HAVE PSYCHE WILL TRAVEL

Ten-dollar words describe my praxis:

Peregrination, peripatetic, itinerant.

Original practice remains in Olympia,

In second location, stable for decades.

Seattle office moved from place to place, 

Sublets in Westlake, Queen Anne, Pioneer Square.

Current Seattle office shared with colleague,

Two days, come and go independently.

Recent addition of one hour in Tacoma,

House remodeled into sweet office.

Inner and outer flexibility echoed in multiple

Spaces in which to apply my professional craft.

Gratitude for generous and hospitable colleagues, 

Grateful for generative work that keeps me on the move.

Ann Beth Blake

(c) September 18, 2014

MINNESOTA IRON RANGE'S 5th P

How could I have omited 5th P from previous 

Poems about Summer, 2014, visit to hometown?

Cherished four Ps previously chronicled:

Potica, porketta, pasty, Sammy's pizza.

Lunch at hospitable cousin's lake cabin cum home;

Toured construction updates: kitchen, shed, sauna.

Companionate cousins shared chores, interests,

Professional careers, affection, light-hearted humor;

Relationships firmly grounded in lifetime of 

Congenial family gatherings in small hometown;

Grandparents and their two daughters, each with 

Four children, close enough for regularity of connection.

Our 2014 mid-day meal started, of course, with tea and potica.

Brother prepared beans and fried thinly-sliced camp potatoes,

Complemented with Walleye Pike (5th P) recently

Caught in Canada's pristine Boundary Waters.

During cleaning of fish, cousin generously added 

Refinement to delete pesky midline bones.

After shaking filets in thin batter of flour and spices, 

Capable fry cook soon delivered delicious local fare.

Nuthin' says Home like favorite childhood foods,

Iron Range' 5 Ps, served up and duly digested.

Ann Beth Blake

(c) September 13, 2014

DELAYED CLASS REUNION JOURNAL

Not much interest, but agreed to go.

Then whiny my re most of my inner 

Group of fiends not in attendance.

Friends of a friend, but not mine.

Frustrated at first to try to connect in

Loud, crowded corridor and rooms.

Too much chaos, no name tags,

People already grouped and laughing.

Old insecurities and jealousies erupted.

Then, on own initiative, connected with 

several people, getting more comfortable

And willing to engage and converse.

Few initiated with me, which, 

Again, prompted sadness, regret.

Yet, most people, pleased and willing to

Talk when I approached and inquired.

Once in high school building, erupted in

Joy and celebration, youthful playfulness,

And appreciation to be home, home, home.

Enveloping hometown ease and good will.

More and more comfortable and extraverted.

Said hello to almost everyone I recognized.

Actually, easier to initiative conversation with

Men rather than women--old insecurities.

In spite of natural introversion, shyness,

Residual self-imposed invisibility,

All in all, feel happy and satisfied with

Interactions and experiences.

Ann Beth Blake

(c) September 12, 2014

WAITING FOR CROSSWALK LIGHT

In hot late afternoon sun,

Uncharacteristic for Washington, 

Two males patiently wait for long

Stoplight to change to "walk."

Younger man in jeans, T-shirt, and woolen cap,

Straddles bike, no sign of exertion.

Older man, in jogging shorts and 

Tank top, sweat gleaming on bald head.

Individual, unique autonomic responses to

Exactly same environmental context.

Each person, nonverbal in distinct universe, 

Although, actually, only two feet apart,

Connected and separate, alone

And together, silently sharing this moment.

Ann Beth Blake

(c) September 11, 2014

URBAN CANYONS

Grew up in iron ore mining country,

Resplendent with rust-red canyons,

Excavated by enormous steam shovels;

Deeply-etched abyss miniaturized all

Equipment from ground-level perspective.

Viewed Grand Canyon on misty winter morn,

Mirroring person-dug canyon on Minnesota's

Iron Ore Range, Western edge of Arrowhead counties.

Vowed to return to float Colorado though Grand

Canyon--intention remains on Bucket List.

In recent years, Seattle streets echo inverted

Version of canyons, as high-rise buildings

Erupt upward from the surface, contrasted with 

Downward erosion via rivers and shovels which

Slowly or quickly break Earth's carapace.

Whether up or down, similar outcome: extinguished

Sunshine, relegating all to almost-constant shadow,

Decreased temperature, and pallid complexions.

To flourish and mature, plants need both light and shade.

Hopefully, plants and people can find vital balance of 

Rays and shadow in 21st Century industrial urban canyons.

Ann Beth Blake

(c) September 5, 2014

LEFT MY HOUSE LESS LADEN TODAY

Usually carry soft briefcase stitched 

Into multiple pockets and sections,

Enveloping paper professional calendar 

With shipping-tape tunnels for pen and pencil,

Crammed with concert and workshop flyers,

Seminar readings and academic journal articles,

Syllabi and course assignment lists,

Checks made out for weekly appointments and 

Monthly appointments and rent payments,

Collection of inspirational quotations,

To-do lists of tasks and shopping and

Phone calls and e-mail contacts;

Larger credit-card wallet and small cell-phone wallet;

Assortment of loose pens and pencils and markers;

Deck of cards, small writing tablet, Kleenex,

Necessary but seldom used toiletries,

First-aid supplies, 1-day quantity of meds;

iPad with charger and cords and portable

Hockey-puck-shaped internet connector.

Yielding sore shoulders and tight lower back muscles.

Today, left my house less laden, with only 

Mini red-and-white canvas carrier containing

Paper calendar and small cell-phone wallet.

Of larger symbolic importance, left my

House today feeling less laden by emotions

And concerns and complexes and frets.

Back and heart and mind, lighter and freer.

Left my house less laden today.

Ann Beth Blake

(c) September 5, 2014

SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE A CHILDLESS MOTHER

Billie Holliday crooned about being a motherless child;

In adolescence, accompanied myself on the piano,

Singing this tune at the top of my lungs to punish Mom.

Always assumed children were in my cards, but not so.

Have to be conscious of Mother/Heroine Archetypes,

Stay on track to balance nurturing and boundaries.

Full and rich professional and personal lives,

Bounty abounds, beauty surrounds, play sizzles.

Yet, sometimes, I feel like a childless mother.

Ann Beth Blake

(c) September 5, 2014