ASKS ME FOR A MATCH

98 of #100daychallenge

So, the heat is back. Although it was 99 degrees, the air quality was pretty good. The depression sediments are solidifying a bit, so I felt like I walked around with a small rock chained to my heart. I could walk around and function though, so there was that. Christina and I did not have a terribly productive sewing day, she in particular being frustrated, but these days are bound to happen. Progress was made and our weekly practice was achieved.

I am. more bummed out because both pair of my prescription reading glasses are MIA. The last time I saw one pair was at Trader Joe's today when I was shopping, so hopefully I dropped them somewhere in there (they were in a case, too.).

I am going to try to get some early sleep and I am too dull to write anything worthwhile. Plus, I can scarcely read this type.

from NOTES TOWARD AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

I am capable of giving rich gifts

when they are unexpected

but when someone asks me

for a match

I blush and fumble

embarrassed to give so much upon demand

______________//______________________

I have a good marriage

a good marriage

is how we resolve the conflict

between who we want to go to bed with

and whose bed we want to wake up in

it’s always a compromise

______________//______________________

my old poems come back as strangers

and gradually I recognize

a gesture a worn-out coat

a tired smile

these were my companions

when I had no one else and they

were kind to me

how could I deny them now

when others speak only of their faults

______________//______________________

— Richard Shelton, Selected Poems, 1969-1981, University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, 1982