Young boys chanting

"Good morning!" yelled a boy (of 12?) at me; he was throwing a football with a friend at Ahuimanu Park. I pointed out that it was 3 p.m., and so he modulated to afternoon. As I passed by, he and his friend started yelling "Donald Trump for president!" I barked a bit, and the one boy yelled, "have a great day!" I wished him one, too. Considered turning around to talk to them. He kept his chant going. Lilith and I kept going, too.

Lilith and I walk uphill

Lilith and I didn't go to the cemetery this morning. We went uphill instead of down. As we left the cemetery yesterday, our two friends at the entry box informed us that Harris is dumb and talks in "word salad"; they said she was installed by oligarchs, having gotten no votes. (I said I voted for her for vice president, so I wasn't bothered.) And yes, we started speaking in high voices. A woman stood between us, wanting to buy flowers. Uncle John cut them for her with the paper cutter, leaving bits of color on the table and ground. The look on her face.

I and You: Elegy 31

I and You

Eucalyptus is tree

Bark is not

Eucalyptus is tree

Sap is not

I am alive

You are not

I talk to

You who don’t

Talk to me

Which of us

Is more lonely

Billy Mills review

 Billy Mills is an Irish poet, one who devotes a lot of time and energy to reading the work of others. He read my books, Lilith Walks and Meditations carefully, here: https://ellipticalmovements.wordpress.com/2024/03/27/recent-reading-march-2024/

And now he's done an attentive reading of I and Eucalyptus, here: https://ellipticalmovements.wordpress.com/2024/10/23/recent-reading-october-2024-a-review/

Lilith and the untaken photograph

Lilith and I saw a man walking toward us on the asphalt path next to Kahekili, a lanky man in dark clothing. When we got closer, I told him that I've been doing final edits on a piece of writing that will be published and that one section was about him and his wife pushing a baby stroller on this very walk. "What kind of writing is it?" he asked, and I expressed some befuddlement. He said he goes to visit Leona every day at the other big Kaneohe cemetery; her parents had bought four plots, two for her and two for her sister. Their dad was a vet. It's got a wonderful view of the bay, and is within walking distance of the house where she grew up. Several years ago, I'd ask Les and Leona if I could take their picture. Even though their nephew is a professional photographer, they said no. I regret the picture not taken.

Lilith and my tee ball player

We crossed the street to avoid two little dogs that Lilith didn't want to see. Three young men were walking on the other side, coming back from the pool with their towels. One of them greeted me; he'd been on my tee ball team when he and my son were five years old. Since then, he'd been in the Navy. Now? "Doing lots of LGBTQ stuff and singing in the Honolulu Gay Chorus," he said. His mom had a knee replaced a month ago, and is only now driving again. And your dad? I asked. Even then, he and the young man's mother were divorced; he did baseball duty with his son. "You know what your dad said to me once?" I asked. "He told me not to let you act like a girl. I said that was not my job, nor did I think acting like a girl was a bad thing." He said his dad had taken him to try out for another team and had thrown the ball--hard--at him. Hit him three times in the head. Never played baseball again. (And then I remembered the young man's name, because it comes after "the Eskimo" in a Bob Dylan song.) He smiled, said his dad had died of cancer a few years ago, but had always had to remind himself that his son was gay. You could watch the gears moving in his head, he said. Smiled.

Lilith meets a Trump supporter

 

The gray bearded man in the Ka’a’awa park came to sit across the picnic bench from me. He held a cigarette and lighter, but wasn’t smoking. He has one of the best cardiologists on the island, one Dr Ng. Had a couple strokes. Said he likes my shirt (Nope / Not Again) it reads with toupee and long tie on the o. He doesn’t understand why people don’t like Trump. Trump cares about people. People listen to him and Kamala has no foreign policy. Inflation and gas prices. I point out that both are down. He says he’s comfortable in his positions. Came here over 30 years ago from Brooklyn. Kept saying how much he liked Lilith. Her coloring, her ears. His girlfriend has a sweet pitbull. She goes to Alaska on business, and he goes with her. Really likes Alaska. “Have a good day,” he says as he walks away.