Epilogue?

Welcome to my project!

I wrote one poem for every day of 2008, which equaled 366 total poems (it was a leap year so there was a February 29th). I don't know if I am proud of it - I haven't decided yet. But I did it. At times it was definitely quantity over quality, and I had a bit of a rough year all the way around. Any other excuses? Not really. Just bear in mind that these are not my favorites, or my best, they are a daily exercise that allowed very little if any time to reflect or edit. So adjust your expectations accordingly.

The way it was posted, reading it will take you backward through the year, December through January. But I'm pretty sure that the order doesn't matter. Please be gentle with me. And enjoy the reading.

much love,
Ramona

12/30/08 Year of the Heart

the crushing melancholy I tend and heckle
like a houseplant
being my own peanut gallery
not really wanting to watch the show

you've seen the way
the little heart soldiers
just keep marching

looking without knowing what to look for
not really wanting to find anything at all

and the heart hamster
just keeps running
and running

12/29/08 Jumpin' Jupiter

Let's just remember the good times,
the 30 seconds it took to lose like seventy bucks
at the blackjack table at Jorgy's,
the bargain basement shots at the Lonesome Dove,
the birthday boy's faceplant into the snowbank
while all the kids watched through the open door.

Good times, and a delicious Slippery Saturn to boot,
but I still wish I was somewhere else.

12/28/08 Art for the Artless

We all can't be Silvio,
saying the most painful things
beautifully,
carrying our hearts
inside our guitars,
birds in our mouths.
I don't sing love songs
to Cuba,
usually.

But that doesn't mean
we shouldn't try to live
beautifully,
to transform the things we find
into treasures
and then keep them
in our pockets.
Have dreams
that make us weep.

That is my wish for us,
that we can sing
beautifully,
that we can weep
and find words and
treasures and birds
and keep them in our pockets.
That we sing love songs
to Cuba.
And each other.


Vivamos de corrido sin hacer poesia,
aprendamos palabras de la vida.

Dime lo que te pasa,
dejame levantarte,
dejame darte un beso y curarte.

-Silvio Rodriguez

12/27/08 National Geo-who-ha

Corinne hates National Geographic
almost as much as she hates Christmas.
I got to see Corinne's solstice unclenching,
which was strange and wonderful,
just like Corinne.

Anyway, if she had any idea how much fun
it is to cut and shred National Geographics
into tiny pieces, she might like them better.
Cutting and shredding Christmas,
now that's another story.

12/26/08 Alice Paul

I have a posthumous crush on Alice Paul.
I think I should have learned about her in school,
but I never did.

Learning about her might have inspired me,
which is why I should have learned about her in school,
and probably why I never did.

What I learned in school is that if your ultimate goal
is to be learned about in school,
you ought to consider being a war general

rather than a civil rights leader.
And unless you happen to be Susan B. Anthony,
it's best not to be of the lady persuasion.

12/25/08 Scrabble

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n_ o_ o_ s_ e
__o
__z
f _e_ c_ e_ s
_________p_ h
_________a
_________m_ i_ t_ t_ e_ n
__________________g
__________________a
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