Signs, symbols, omens

These are two of my lesser-known poems, both from Open Things. Sometimes I think I love that kind the most. They still belong just to me, somehow, and the few people who have read them. These are both true stories. I did forget I was awake in the first poem. And I did, once, argue with God, or at least with the internalized voice of my religious upbringing, and I was surprised to hear (or sense, or understand) that God was surprised, and impressed by my chutzpah. That one moment of mutual startlement at each other completely changed my understanding of religion and relationship. But that’s a story for another day.

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedsigns and symbols

i dreamt i saw a blue jay in my yard
then i remembered i was awake

the bird was a real bird
my mind the thing that fluttered

the dream jay would have been a sign for me
a symbol of my hopes, my fears

waking, she was a bird unto herself
she did not even know my name

***

omens

you might think it inauspicious
to wake the first day of the new year
with a migraine

but i have made my peace with omens
just as i have made my peace with pain

ever since that day when i talked back to god
and god raised god's eyebrows at me

then nodded, smiled, and said,

"okay"

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