Between the Skin and Skull

How can he?
How can he take the scalpel
and run it down her breast bone,
peal back the thick, rubbery layers of skin
and look at her stony heart?

Her eyes that had once looked upon the backyard swing
in hesitation
were harvested first,
while she was still soft and warm.
Empty sockets.
No accusation left.

His pelvis presses hard against
stainless steel tables, he shifts from one foot to the next.
Long hours.

On his tongue he still tastes the olives
from lunch, round, whole, plump.
The purple streak across the sunrise
from his commute still lingers
in his mind filled with love-making
from the night before.

At Least it Prompted Me to Grip His Shoulders Tightly

I love rediscovering sex.

Apologetically, Laura Whitcomb's novel _A Certain
Slant of Light_, amounted to little less
than, well, soft porn.

Not true. Not fair.

But the ending was so rushed! So undeveloped.
This is her first novel, she lives in Oregon,
the pulse of American writing right now--so I'm told--
yet, she did this to her work?

I could never take the plunge.
Another friend and I were chatting
on our way to the Oasis--
what do you do when the book is out of your hands?
Out of your control?
You suddenly see great gaping errors and flaws,
knowing others see them too . . .

sit back and say ha-ha, I'm published
and you're not. Kneener-neener?

Gush Gush Gushing

My poet friend, aka Avacado,
hasn't skipped out on us--
she's designed a magnificient
top-secret forum for us to keep track
of all our writerly writings!

And her comments!
So insighful--so on target--so professional.
Sigh. I'm in heaven.
Utter bliss.

It isn't enough to create with my body;
I must create with my words and experiences--
I need to write this life.


Oh, and some information on enjambement:

I was angry with a friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
--William Blake "A Poison Tree" (1794)

Obviously, these are famous end-stopped lines,
opposite of the enjambement
form which is French for "striding over."
[Wasn't that clever--someone please note.]

I live for enjambement
lines that always stress a good word
full of meaning; the construct seems to flow
quite naturally to my ways of thinking.

2:54--I'm Out Of Here

I actually have a few minutes
with nothing but this dashboard
and a hot cup of cinnamon tea in front of me.

Where to begin?
No where and everywhere, I suppose.

I'd simply leave early (it's 2:28
and I've vowed to stay until 5pm like a working
stiff this quarter) if I had anything
other to listen to than _The Cat Who
Went Bananas_. My partner thought I might like it.
Yeah.

Well, secretly, I guess, I kindof do. I don't listen
or read sentimental nonsense very often--
except I'm also reading some new ghost book
I picked up at the B&N a couple weeks ago . . .

Goes well with all the WS material and racial theroies
I'm dealing with this quarter. I'm trying to figure
out how to incorporate _Crash_ into my class . . .
it will be done.

I hate burning my tongue.

If I had twin boys who were about to turn seven,
I'd rent the local skating rink
and invite every single soul we knew--
every child in both classes, every friend, all family.

But I wouldn't buy gifts (well maybe one).
And I wouldn't skate b/c I like my butt left unharmed.

If I had a thirteen year old daughter,
she'd be finishing 8th grade and scheduling
for High School.
I'd have the speech: You need to focus on building
your "paper image" now for scholarships. I will help
you in every way possible. You must know, we, ehem,
have no money
saved for you. Nada.

Which would be more of a speech than I ever heard.

My writing group sucks.
I hope they never find this.
But we all know it[the suckiness factor].
My sestina was some type of "striking out," I believe--
and it wasn't, er, absorbed well.
One member is an actual poet; another, um, aspiring.
The poet is bored out of her mind
and won't write us back; the aspiring seems a bit self-absorbed.
*I'm so afraid someone will find this!*
*I've almost deleted this section twice!*
Me? I'm the reason it sucks.

Perhaps it will get better, if we all stick to it.

Or not.

Ever feel out of time and space?
Floating?
Did my mother do drugs when I was interuterine?

Speaking of my mother: I only just learned
that she had a red convertable before she met my father.
He took everything away from her.
What would these two people like if they never met?
Both seem to have had incredible potential . . .

Disease is becoming quite the topic. I've had students
write on lots of good topics this quarter.
My WS200 is way over their heads & the work is terrible--
what to do? I'll never be asked to teach at that branch again.

But the plan was to leave academia in the Spring anyway.
Right?

I had so many things to say to you . . .
and they have all just fizzled away . . .

28 Days and Another Full Moon

It _is_ because I am a woman.
My d*mn uterus--
everything going so well--
the energy--
the finesse of a lecture well taught--

all of it plumets with my d*mn womb.

I even hate the word--womb.
Who the h*ll made up such a stupid word
like that?
Womb.
Soft and mushy--
like a moan or groan.
A wound.

Sh*t--I hate this body! Being trapped here
all bloated out with one bite of rice--
right ovary aching--
lower back sore.
Felling like a moppy haired pig.

And so tired!
So d*mn tired! Can't lift my pen or think.

If I say anything,
anything at all, then
I am b*tching
I am whining
I am funny [admit it--you are laughing].

F*ck that!

When I cannot carry on with my day-to-day
function,
then this menstration sh*t has got to be taken seriously.

I am tired of living in denial!
Pretending I have some psychological issues,
that my problems are all internal,
that I can and should go about my work
just by popping some Midol.

Ten days, 10 days, out of each month
is tore up by this sh*t--that's almost a third
of my f*cking life.

What would happen if women
didn't have to pretend to be as "strong"
--how I loathe the word--
as men, if we took 3-5 days off and rested??

Would the world collapse?!?
Oh how utterly unfair that would be to the men!!
Why shouldn't they have days off???

Because they are not in pain
3-5 days a month with 5 days of prep work!

True, not all women suffer--
I'm a lucky one--
some may even take advantage of the time off--
who gives a flying f*ck?
About anything right now??

I just know that I was finally making some headway
and now, my body has to go and screw it all up.
Then I can spend the next 20 days trying to fix that,
until BAM another "period" of torture.

. . .

But I love my body. I love my uterus.
I really must.
I still have them don't I?
Haven't, like, cut them out with
a butcher knife.
Ehem.
Can I have
the highs without the lows?

I guess I'm able. I am strong--gr--.
I, as individual, will do what I must
to fight this pathology.
But this system sucks.

A Failed Sestina

I awoke from a long dreamy nap with the word "sestina"

slithering across my brain, a brain dripping with Dickens' use of ink,

ink smeared all over his industrious characters, one, a body

never touched by the pen yet dragged from a river

coughing up lukafish, nonetheless. A ghost

of a fish, so I hear, hollow, insubstantial, without images.



Me? I want to write poetry where there is none; where images

snake around each other hopelessly biting at the ends of each sestina,

a line of tiki torches dancing some jerking rhythm for a pilgrim ghost . . .

Sigh. But it's all empty shadows, anyone can see--no secret-decoder ink

needed to decipher a millennium of mediocre dreams. A "sub-conscious river"?

Bah. All unravels, sure, meaninglessly, yet urgent, from this ageing body.



I wrote the name of Dickens once upon the waves and bones of my body;

the way I cocked my head and feigned curiosity-I thought he'd like the
images.

I was in graduate school without yet questioning-a fluid river?

No. I read about a black kettle, a calendar, and an ocean-setting sestina.

I had never set line on Warrior's ink,

not the way Maxine carved a grudge of blood upon the muscle of a ghost.



At six I believed rain and branches scratching at window panes would conjure
the ghost

of a boy who fell from the fifth floor and broke his small brown body

into a million pieces; now, after all calculations, I yearn to be visited,
to translate into ink

all that I fear-not wasting words on forced, fragmented images

that will never quite fit together, never fall into some mystical sestina,

never evoke the dread of a dirty Dickensian river.



Like a catch, like a school of pale, one-eyed cod netted from the nearest
river,

the writing becomes a bit repulsive to all but the most peculiar little
ghosts

who lurk behind round lanterns, knees drawn up, brow-lines marching a cruel
sestina.

I get lost. Forget the path. Find something new. "The writing of the body"

becomes repeated into oblivion. I almost fail to see, to recall the lustful
images,

the implications, of the mirror. The mirror! You age-old surface refusing to
absorb ink.



In the mirror, calligraphy tools set; I want to learn, only cannot moisten
the ink.

Cannot neatly package what isn't there. Effortless. Clean. The old rowboat
coasting down river.

Pointless, no doubt. Learning an entire language consumed by images.

Staring at the lines, all fat and thin, blurring into terpsichore, not
round-eyed anime ghosts.

It's not a wonder, not a supernatural feat, that Dickens is read without a
body;

after all, it's true, a warrior poet should forsake the dullest blade named
sestina.



So, I never dream in ink, no, not really, nor allow just any past ghost

writer to merge into my murky river dreams that buoyant and direct my body.

I can't begin. Frightenly empty images. Cough them back out into a failed
sestina.

Spammer Vultures

Guess they're picking at my dead corpse
of a blog.


[btw. Not everyone loves me, that moment
is passing; instead, people are indifferent.
I can live with that.]

CPR, Anyone? I Think My Blog is Dying

As with my written journals,
when all seems to be going well,
I simply don't have too much to say--

or perhaps enough time in which to say it?

All I know is that I am teaching,
I'm teaching _well_, performing well,
and at this moment--gasp--
I think everyone loves me.

Isn't that what each, seriously, want?

Perhaps, as Plato may suggest,
I am "writing on the heart"?

Does Anyone Know What This Means?

LoL--I think they knew she was dead,
but out of "respect" left her body
there for the aliens
who were returning to take her home.

Wasn't it creepy
how the air conditioner mummified her body?

In Case of a Fire

WS200–Winter 2006
Cultural Analysis
Presentation Expectation and Rubric

As stated in the syllabus, this project can be completed as a small group (3 students max) or individually. Because we are examining feminist issues specifically through the scope of “women in the arts,” and class discussion this quarter already covers literature and contemporary film, this project will address broader areas of the arts where women are certainly making an impact such as in TV, Print Media, Music, Visual Arts, etc. (see first handout).

Successful presentations will focus on one particular woman or one specific genre of art and analyze the process and product of the artist through a feminine lens. By feminist lens, I mean a framework, a way of looking and thinking about the art, based on assessing its effectiveness given the goals and objectives of feminist who seek to improve the quality of life for women. For example, you may begin by asking how the artist or work you are examining deals with specific 3rd Wave issues such as Body Image, Reproduction, Sexuality, and Economic Equality, just to name a few. What is the artist’s attitudes toward these issues? Why do you think that is? How does the culture receive that attitude? Does it accept the artist’s notions, copy them, or reject them?
Certainly you will want to ask how her particular work:
1) reflects the dominate ideology and through which institutions,
2) reinforces social and “mythical” norms by providing instruction or warnings, and/or
3) challenges/subverts the status quo, especially for the women within her own reference group.

Depending on the number of groups, the actual speaking portion should aim for between 10-20 minutes of informal dialogue. Beginning with a visual/audio clip or handout is always advisable. Asking questions and engaging the group is welcomed. The presentation should be both informative and inquisitively critical in its analysis.

The paper portion should be a 3 page, typed document of your research and analysis with Works Cited. The Works Cited page should also have a “see also” reference tool for further inquiry. I will give an example of this on the board.

Rubric

Total Available Points: 100 Presentation (worth 50pts.) Typed Paper (worth 50pts.)

Clarity +10 +10
–What ideas about the work do you find most important?
–Why, from your own perspective, is this aspect most important?
–How do you believe this work addresses and challenges feminist issues?

Informative +10 +10
–What background do we need to know to better understand the art?
–How is the work connected to its larger category of art?
–How is the work generally received in the culture? By whom? How do you know?

Analytical +10 +10
–What are the explicit messages of the work?
–What are the implicit messages you find?
–What ideologies and institutions does it reflect and/or challenge?

Energy +10 +10
–What is your overall tone toward your project?
–How much work and heart have you seemed to put into it (evaluated by format, “sample” provided, attention to detail, etc.)?
–Do you offer additional, detailed places to research?

Inquisitiveness +10 +10
–How do you engage your audience?
–What types of questions can you pose?
–How far do you stretch your thinking beyond the class ideas?

Each area will be rated: 10pts All Criteria Met
8-9pts Most Criteria Met
7pts Some Criteria Met
5-6pts Few Met
4-0 Little/none Met

Grading Scale: 92-100pts. A
80-91pts. B
70-79pts. C
62-69pts. D

[I’m sure you may still have questions; we will address further questions on Wednesday.]

Shear Maddness

I saw a new hair design place in town
open for business:
yes, "Shear Madness."

I don't think I am that particular, adventurous
soul who would venture into a place like that . . .
why do I see neon lights and lots of electricity?

The Real News Here

Another cover-up?
I think the real news here is that
Vice President Cheney has Athlete's Foot
and everyone is covering it up.

What would such a disease mean to this administration?
I believe it would not only force them to reconsider
their actions in Iraq,
but also their alignment with Alito.

Shortness of breath, indeed.

Unmistakable Feathers

I shall begin to save my stale bread.
I noticed the ducks are about on the pond.
When it becomes utterly frigid,
and the roads are closed,
I will find my way over to the pond
and be a hero in their beady little eyes.
I will become their duck queen.

Writing Group

Two friends and I have started
a smallish writing group--finally.

Admittedly, I'm not enthusiastic about deadlines
and such.

Further, I'm worried about my tone.
This writing group will be corresponding via email,
and I certainly don't want to upset anyone
due to a miscommunication in tone . . .

For example,
I may write "Dork." on a blog
I may consider as a dear, intimate friend.

In reality, we are, well, actually strangers
and the blogger may not take kindly to name-calling--
or may not see the affection in "dork."

Sigh.

Further, my tone, I believe, is often considered
flippant.
Flippant.
Me? Just because I see most of our culture's sense
of politeness as a type of game,
and I wish to invent new pieces to play with,
doesn't mean I am not sincere or professional . . .

I think.

I was bent on posting something else this morning,
but it has slipped my mind.
At any rate,
it is only appropriate that I tell you:
Lemony Snicket rules. At the moment I am so engaged
in audio tapes of his series--read by Tim Curry
nonetheless.
Why is this appropriate?
Because exactly one year ago today
I began this blog with dear dear Lemony.

Sundays. Blessed Sundays.
The one day I don't teach.

Bring the Snow

I'm all about snow days.
This quarter, I will embrace them.

Why did I schedule a 4 hour/ once a week class
for 9:00, Saturday Mornings?!?

Why are 23 students taking the class?

But I love life,
I love life,
I love life. (Even at 7:00am on Saturday . . .)

ENG 151 Prompt

So I'm grading some Informal Writing;
the first prompt
asks that you reflect on one particular
"turning point"
in your life, or a time when you have shifted cultures.

Poor pampered peeps.
Most sheltered students have nothing to say--
they pull out forced narratives
about entering college and being exposed to
alcohol, drugs, and sex for the first time (yeah right).
Or maybe they write about joining
some athletic team (which has merits, but is just boring).

But once in a while,
I get something really moving;
today I read a piece by a young man
who lost a cousin in the 9/11 attacks.
Lots of emotion and detail . . .
the stuff good personal narratives are made from.

Does "good" writing privilege pain and suffering?
If so, why?

Can I Get this in a Bottle?

Walking out of the branch library
brought back bits of the past ten years--

Voice to My Right: Damn, girl. Won't you smile or something--
can't be all that bad--

Me from an Increasing Distance: Oh yeah? [Challenging,
yet somewhat playful.] What would you know?!?

Him: That's what I'm talking about--won't you tell me?

Me shouting Backward: Buy me a cup of coffee sometime
and just maybe I'll tell you all about it.

Him: [Stops. Lifts eyebrows.] I'm going to go in here,
right in here,
and give this book back. You wait right there. I am going to be right back.

BLUSH

Me, laughing: No, no, no . . .

Him: See how you are?


I love flirting. Why did I ever give it up? LoL.

This week has been good.
Smooth.
I'm finding out who I am as a teacher.
I feel confident in what I do know.
I must have visited everyone I know this week.
No shell-hiding. Humph.

For now, this is where I want to be. And I feel good.
Solid.
Focused.
Able.
Loving.

Snaking along route 50 in the dark
sipping on stale coffee
pin pricking headlights slither down
the hill that lifts in front of me--
two by two in the rain
they top the black horizon
and beam back to my retinas
like torch bearers in a tiki ritual
on their way to work, I can only suppose.

Between classes, between buildings,
I follow a wet brick path, clickity-clack,
in shoes two sizes too large,
mother's dress-up heels with a feather pink boa.
And I stare.
Another hill, more faces.
On cell phones, under hoodies, puffing smoke.
I see them meet, exchange greetings, hold finger tips and part.
Some faces smile in secret ways
and I catch the beams from their eyes
like fertility.

Wish Me Luck!

I'm off to see the Lizard!

Recreate new Herstories and all of that Jazz--
See you on the other side.

Peace.

Whew! Just Like Old Days: 7:21pm, about 12 hours until I teach, and BAM a syllabus!

I've been delivered again (seriously).
Check it out:

Women Studies 200: Issues in Feminism
Section: H01 M/W 1:00-3:00pm Call #: XXX37
Instructor: SQMojo
Office: TBA Office Phone: TBA
Office Hours: M & W 11:00-1:00pm (also by appointment)
Home Phone (please use with discretion and respect): (xxx) xxx-7x4x
Email: xxx.net

Texts (editions may vary):
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. New York: Penguin, 1984. <1899>
Kingston, Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts.
New York: Vintage, 1989. <1975>
Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Penguin, 1988. <1987>

Films (in order to be viewed):
Joy Luck Club. Dir. Wayne Wang. Buena Vista, 1993.
Monster’s Ball. Dir. Marc Forster. Lee Daniels Entertainment, 2001.
Virgin Suicides. Dir. Sophia Coppola. American Zoetrope, 1999. <97 min.>
Thelma and Louise. Dir. Ridley Scott. MGM, 1991. <130 min.>

Additional essays will be accessible through Black Board.

Course Description:
Welcome. This section of Women Studies 200 is a course designed to critically analyze three to four contemporary issues pertaining to women and gender through the lens of cultural critique. Specifically, we will examine a few of the many key “feminist touchstones/artifacts” that reflect the ways in which women confront and challenge --through art– issues involving the quality of women’s lives. The secondary scholarship we will read in class should provoke reflexive, critical thinking both in the public space of our classroom, as well as the more private areas of our lives.

Because individual instructors in Women Studies come from a wide range of disciplines, and are inherently informed by the interest of her/his studies, each offers a particular focus on feminism and its wide-ranging concerns. However, if you are paying close attention to the readings and discussions, you will begin to form questions that compliment your own paths of interest. Furthermore, this is not a course solely centered on identity politics, such as issues of race, class, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, political affiliations and/or geographical locations in any isolated sense. As you may have learned from WS100, the ways in which our identities are signified to others are matters of daily living and must be constantly addressed in context of every assignment. You are also encouraged to bring whatever resources, questions and previous learning to the class each day.


Course Requirements:

3 Reading Quizzes: Three brief exams will be in short answer format, covering material you have read and discussed in class. Each exam will be worth 10% of your final grade. The length and specifics of the testing will be discussed as a class as time approaches.

Brief Presentation w/Paper: This project can be completed as a small group (3 students max) or individually. Because we are examining women in the arts through the somewhat narrow scope of literature (fiction) and contemporary film, this project allows the student the opportunity to bring her/his own interest and expertise into the class. The assignment is to closely examine a particular woman artist and analyze her work in terms of the “lens” provided through this course. For example, you will begin by asking how her particular art reinforces, subverts, and/or challenges the status quo of the women in her own reference group/specific culture. The presentation portion will be informal with a duration between 10-20 minutes; the paper portion will be research/analytical, 3 pages minimum with Works Cited. I will provide a handout with clear expectations by next week.

Final: This essay exam will ask you to synthesize and evaluate course materials. The final will be held during final’s week, no exceptions.

1 Pocket Journal: Although, ideally, this class will be conducted seminar style with lots of intellectual engagement and discussion, I reserve the privilege to request various informal writings designed to allow students to better interact with the reading material and come to class prepared for lively discussion. These writings will be held in a two-pocket folder and may be collected at any time.

Conferences: I am always happy to chat with anyone about observations, insights or concerns. I encourage all students to stop in during my office hours, or make an appointment at least once early on during the quarter.

Grading: In order to pass this class you must do all of the work, including in-class discussions and informal writing. Therefore, if you are absent during any class period, contact the instructor and/or a classmate immediately. Quizzes and Essay Exams are not subject to make-ups. Your grades will be available on Black Board.

Reading Quizzes—30%
Presentation—30%
Final----30%
Journal & Participation----10%


Absence Policy:
Because the formal work you do in the course is closely knitted to your in-class writing, collaboration with your classmates and discussions, your grade (as well as your ethos) may be lowered by each absence. Further, if you are absent, you are completely responsible for what you missed.

Academic Dishonesty:
Plagiarism is defined by the University Student Handbook as a Code A offense, which means that "blah blah”(10). Any student who has chosen to plagiarize will receive a failing grade for the course. Thus, if you are unsure about plagiarism or what it means talk with your instructor.

Civil Discourse, Rights, and Responsibilities:
In class discussions, readings, and writing throughout this quarter, we will examine ideas from diverse perspectives. At this university, students and faculty are afforded an academic environment that allows for intellectual expression; challenging issues and ideas may arise, but none of these should be expressed in an inappropriate manner either verbally or in writing. One of the goals of a university is to challenge us to think again about what we know (and all that we don’t know). This demands that we all share responsibility for creating and maintaining a democratic and civil learning environment in our classrooms and in the larger university community: we will be conscious of and accept responsibility for what we say and do, how we act, how our words and actions have consequences, and how our words and actions affect others. Racism, sexism, and other non-democratic or oppressive behaviors are unacceptable.





Tentative Schedule [By tentative, I mean that all assignments are subject to change. Again, please keep in close contact with a colleague if you are absent.]

What do we mean by “women and the arts”?
Week One
Welcome. Brief Background. Course expectations and vocabulary.
Virginia Woolf’s “Shakespeare’s Sister” (1929)
Dale Spender’s “The Writing or the Sex?“ ©.1970)




Kate Chopin’s Awakening: Issues in Breaking Cultural Expectations
Weeks Two and Three Victorian and Contemporary codes of Femininity.
Recognizing and Escaping the Gilded Cage.
Reception of Women into Artistic Cannons.
Kate Chopin’s The Awakening (1899)
Marilyn Frye’s “Oppression” (1983)
Sarah Corse’s “Gender and Literary Valorization” (2002)
Carole Stone’s “The Female Artist“ (1986)

~~18 January 2006–Reading Quiz #1~~

Maxine Hong Kingston’s Woman Warrior: Issues with the Intersectionality of Gender and Cross-Cultures
Weeks Four and Five
Memoirs as Fiction: Women Reshaping the Self.
Battling Exoticism & “Translating” Cross-Cultural Experiences.
East/West Dichotomies [work/education/reproduction/aging].
The Nature of Ghosts, Rituals, Secrets, and Writings on the Body.
Representation and Issues of “Authenticity.”
Maxine Hong Kingston’s Woman Warrior (1975)
Shohat and Stam’s “Unthinking Eurocentrism” (1994)
Qun Wang’s “Border Crossing” (2000)
Clips from Wang’s interpretation of Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club (1993)

~~06 February 2006–Reading Quiz #2~~

Class Presentations
Week Six
Women in Music, Fine Arts, Television, Comedy, Print Media, E-zines, etc.

Toni Morrison’s Beloved: Women Examining and (Re)Writing Herstories
Weeks Seven and Eight
Specific Challenges for African American Artists.
Confronting Violent Pasts.
Families and Communities.
Reoccurring themes: Ghosts, Writing on the Body, Madness.
Women and the History of Mental Illness (and the arts).
Winning the Pulitzer/Oscar and Keeping It.
Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987)
Emma Parker’s “History and Hysteria” (2001)
Clips from Forster’s Monster’s Ball (2001)

~~27 February 2006–Reading Quiz #3~~

Confronting and Changing Culture
Weeks Nine and Ten Reshaping and Re-seeing our Futures.
Tackling Issues in an Ocularcentric Culture.
No “Guarantees.”
Women and Choice.
Learning to Analyze Implicit and Explicit Messages/Ideologies in Art.




Final: TBA

A Word on Dystopia

I don't think it really exisits.
Haha. But seriously.

_1984_ never came (not in the way
we would recognize it) and _Handmaid's Tale_
is too labored (no puns please).

If I wanted to be fair,
I'd make some comment about living in a simple topia--
not that anyone has a concept on how to unite
such a fractured pudding.

Wow. Is it raining.
My yard will be a vat of mud.

If, IF, I finish my WS200 syllabus
anytime today
I'll post it.

Getting up this morning was killer.
Talk about dystopia--

Sweet 2006

Finally!
The year it all becomes clear!

A new bag
and a smart outfit is what's needed.

The body feels human again--
an ounce of strength will go a long way.

That and 32oz of water every 15 minutes
until the bug flees the body in a tidal wave
of hot urine.
Maybe it was the sip of wine?

So much for dieting;
the New Year began with a bite of
fake strawberry poptart
and a sip of nasty coffee.

A dia-rama is due for Spanish;
projects saved for the last moment.
Viola strings untouched.
Speech exercises down the drain.
Cadoo would be more fun without the word "secret."

Spin class and yoga on Friday nights
sound like torture;
the WS200 turns into a Lit class &
everyone will know.

No plans to bail out yet though.

Close eyes, lay back flat.
Float down the stream; pythons are friends.
Tan.
Enjoy the rhythms of the water.

To beat nausea:
in a dark, cool room,
eyes closed and body curled,
imagine a string with a small square sponge
tied on the end
lowering down
the esophagus,
soaking up acid.
Bring the string slowly back up. Discard.
Repeat.
Then sleep.


2006,
Bring it.