By Kim Nelson, on February 27th, 2010%
“Through all the world there goes one long cry from the heart of the artist: Give me leave to do my utmost.”
~Isak Dinesen
Oh, Isak, I get it!
I want to write, have to write, intend to write.
Then stuff gets in the way.
Internal. External. Stuff.
Circumstance, thought, diversion, onus…stuff.
Yet The Writing waits.
The Writing sits in the basement of my mind, peering up through the cracks in the floor. It waits for me to open the door, walk through the dark, down the steep, narrow stairs and bring it up. Bring it into the light. Bring The Writing into being.
The Writing waits ~for me~ to write.
Tell me…what is waiting for you? And what are you waiting for?
By Kim Nelson, on February 23rd, 2010%
An Ode to Valley Fever
Breathe them in
To the lungs
Airborne filaments and spores
In the warm, moist pleura
Spots and spingles form
Then plan
Their next move
~
For most
It is mild,
This inner invasion
~It means~
Fever, cough, chills, ache
Perhaps a rough, red rash
~
Six months
A year
You’re better
~
For others
Even twenty years later
Fever, weight loss, cough, chest pain
Blood-tinged sputum
Nodules to blame
But you don’t die
~
For the vulnerable few
Lung growths, ulcers, abrasions form
Skull, spine and bone lesions, the norm
Knees, ankles, other joints ache
The brain and spinal cord join in
Forsake
~
Recourse?
Rest
Fluconazole
Itraconazole
~But perhaps most important~
Learn the lessons
Do your best
This may be
The final test.
A few years ago, my dear friend died from a mad conflagration of valley fever and lung cancer. This piece emerged from that experience.
For the latest information regarding Coccidioidomycosis, commonly called Valley Fever, click here.
By Kim Nelson, on February 23rd, 2010%
“Love is everything it’s cracked up to be. It really is worth fighting for, being brave for, risking everything for. And the trouble is, if you don’t risk everything, you risk even more.”
– Erica Jong
By Kim Nelson, on February 15th, 2010%
In poetry,
Truths emerge
That might otherwise
Require
Lubrication,
Stimulation,
Serious social manipulation.
2 Gin Rickeys
Good red wine
Or absinthe over a sugar cube ~
Fine.
But in poetry,
Unprovoked,
Façades fall away,
Barriers break,
Illusions fade to opaque;
And the truth
Jumps onto the page
Big, bold and unashamed
And it declares
I AM.
I am THAT I am.
By Kim Nelson, on February 8th, 2010%
Perfect Pairs.
It’s simpler than you think.
~
Choose wisely.
It’s not about bods or beauty or bucks.
Heat.
Heat?
Yes!
~
Oh, yes!
Heat is primary.
Laughter, intellect, trust,
A must.
~
Go from there.
~
Look for the good,
Overlook?
Yes, some.
Discuss
What can’t be overcome.
~
Be a team,
Put the other first.
Warning!
Focus on it,
You’ll see the worst,
So don’t.
~
Cultivate passion.
Underscore romance.
Adoration, never ration.
Always choose to dance.
~
And know this:
There will be valleys,
Learn to survive.
There will be peaks.
Toward them, strive.
It’s worth the effort.
~
It’s simpler than you think.
It’s harder, too.
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