Juri.

Commissioned pencil drawing of Juri. 18" x 24".


© august 2011 heather brager

memory.

neurons and unconscious notions find the way

an abandoned thought almost begins as a sound

waves are climbing through your cochlea

slithering, bending through a diagram of synapses

it could be your brain, fibers inside the casing of a skull

hiding between folds, but that story cannot be your own

the mind cannot know where you’ve been, or if it was you

and you will never know, since there is no viable proof

© august 2011 heather brager

playing with a full deck.

the ace was buried

every moment is shuffled

I’ll just fold laundry

© august 2011 heather brager

this too shall pass.

their words are deficient, quickly undressed
filling green bottles with semantics
they tidy the room, sighing with triviality

the sky outside is sagging impending fall
as they throw stones, pressing on
they wear the cold armor of disquiet

impetus is an unsympathetic revolver
as scrutiny merges with notarized papers
they ignore heavy steps behind the front door



© august 2011 heather brager

channeling.

“Nothing in the world is more flexible and yielding than water.
Yet when it attacks the firm and the strong, none can withstand it,
because they have no way to change it.” Lao Tzu



you were tempered in this lilt
that of an unaccompanied locomotive

as filtered amber glass
under rays of scorching sunlight and
steady torrents forced
from an unseen nucleus

you will not wince at the point of impact
there are no stress fractures
in your foundation

you are swift and untainted
hanging from the sinuous upper edifice

the secret murmurs are tralatitious
from a unspoken and
undisclosed source


© august 2011 heather brager

another august.

there is no formal harmony
between women and men



we do and are done to
some of us, our best
others are cruel and vindictive



often our intellect tells us we
are not strong, that



we have stepped too far
or are heading off the tracks, and



at times we are derailed
the moment we see the cliff’s edge



when there is no support
for the children



just rock, paper, scissors
and tough love,



we tell ourselves
that they will be victorious



we won’t know
until we see our lives
with clarity of hindsight



and maybe there is
no genuine truth



no paths to pursue
no tracks to follow



no destination to reach
no chalice to acquire



manifestation is a new age fallacy
or at least it was last august



© july 2011 heather brager