packing my head with sand

Facing the truth of our own death can bring us back to life.

Juliana Sloane

I am on the telephone, on hold, 

with my doctor's office. I am trying 

to set an appointment to have my brain removed, 

because I am the Vivaldi of the dream world, 

the astral plane. The brain will be displayed 

in Visalia, California, in a glass case, 

And I will then pack my empty head with sand 

or straw or rich, valley soil. 

My dreams will continue to be a symphony 

and I will continue to write poems. 

I will pull the blanket of being human up to my neck, 

and blink my eyes until I arrive on the astral plane. 

I think the music is starting early today. 

James Lee Jobe

Photographer unknown.
I think of it as
Still Life With Nails And Flowers

That I may find the thread and the strength


To sew my heart together again 

One stitch at a time 

One stitch after another 

James Lee Jobe

Joni Mitchell, 1970, Playing Real Good For Free

LINK: CLICK HERE to go to 'Default Taupou' - a poem by Grace Iwashita-Taylor

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wearing a goatskin

It is not impermanence that makes us suffer. What makes us suffer is wanting things to be permanent when they are not.

Thich Nhat Hanh

OK. Start with a goat and a man. 

The man wears a goatskin and tries 

To blend in with the other goats. 

He can make all the correct sounds 

And is willing to eat anything. 

The goat has a Stetson hat 

That he is proud of, and he does well 

On the stock market, day trading. 

The goat has read James Joyce 

And Henry Miller, and his wife 

Is on the local school board. 

Of course the man is still a man 

And the goat is still a goat, 

But they’re both happier now 

And that’s what really counts. 

James Lee Jobe

Moon at Magome by Hasui Kawase

Birth is random and so is death 

And I am convinced that we are not born to die 

Although we certainly will 

We have no destiny to fulfill 

No predetermined fate awaits us 

So – do anything you want 

Just try to be kind while you do it

James Lee Jobe

The most effective act is, once the mind is made up, to go on without looking backward.

D. T. Suzuki

Feel free to buy me a coffee, below. I do love coffee. Thanks!

James Lee Jobe

flies on the faces of the dead

Run, my dear, from anything that may not strengthen
your precious budding wings.

-Hāfez

Awaken, son of Jobe, grandson of Jobe 

Alone, Thick in this Sacramento Valley, I sleep green 

like Putah Creek. I groan the first breath of life 

and exhale on the rich farm soil. I weep like the hide 

of a tule elk, I laugh like the feathers of the turkey vulture 

as it circles high above the walnut groves. Awaken, 

son of Jobe, grandson of Jobe, you are man-strong 

and naked. Rise up from the green creek waters. 

Step out onto the roots of the elms and oaks 

that line the muddy banks. You are home. 

James Lee Jobe 

-Vincent van Gogh
Enclosed Wheat Field with Ploughman, October 1889

The Order Diptera

In America 

Only those flies

That buzz the faces of the dead

Know the meaning of the word

“Equality”

-James Lee Jobe

Greed is not kind to others.
Greed is not even kind to the greedy.

-B. D. Schiers

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THANKS, James 

chirping birds and sniffing dogs

Accept that your life is going on beyond your usual understanding.

-Dainin Katagiri

In an age of anger and rage

I am asking for your mercy

Those who hate, forgive them

Those who legislate intolerance

Forgive them as well

We do this for our own sake

Anything less and we risk

Becoming that which we would oppose

And losing that which we could be

Mercy is a wonderful gift

And when you give it to someone

You also give it to yourself

So give and give again

And yet again

-James Lee Jobe

Koson Ohara

(I don't remember where I found the little prayer below, or who wrote it, but I love it. I do write prayers from time to time, and I don't want you think I am trying to pass this off as my own. -JLJ)

Spirit of Grace, ever remind us that a new way can be found, and move us toward the possibility of courageously living our lives in the face of all that is before us now.

Black coffee 

Strong and rich 

Poems by WS Merwin 

Outside the sunrise slips out 

Over the valley again 

With chirping birds and sniffing dogs 

Welcome to a brand new day

-James Lee Jobe

Perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave.

-Rainer Maria Rilke

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JLJ 

the cycles of season

It's hell writing and it's hell not writing. The only tolerable state is having just written.

Robert Hass

A tidal wave of sunshine 

Beams from the sun on the creek 

And on the vast fields

Birds in flight, geese, crows 

Red tail hawks, turkey vultures 

They flee the oaks and elms

And rise up toward the sun

The warm and lovely light 

On their feathery wings

James Lee Jobe

My valley is a fine teacher  

The cycles of season  

The life of the watershed  

Light and heat and water   

Growth across time  

The Sacramento Valley is a fine teacher  

And the lesson spans lifetimes 

James Lee Jobe 

If every day you practice walking and sitting meditation and generate the energy of mindfulness and concentration and peace, you are a cell in the body of the new Buddha. This is not a dream but is possible today and tomorrow. 

Thich Nhat Hanh

I can speak so sweetly

That I spit honey

It’s in my eyes

That the poison lies

James Lee Jobe

LINK: click here for a very fine poem, Parable, by Nickole Brown

You can support this blog, and this blogger, with a small donation the the Buy Me A Coffee link below. Many thanks.

James 

a field mouse makes a run for it

"As much as we need a prosperous economy, we also need a prosperity of kindness and decency." 

Caroline Kennedy

They are walking down my street 

With the sunshine wrapped around them

A slow neighbor and his slow dog

As they pass me I tell them

Hallelujah

This place is safe 

But I have lived in cities 

Where danger led the race 

And bullets were king 

The ricochets whispered to me 

And I whispered back

Hallelujah

Morning becomes noon 

And day becomes night

All things eventually end 

Life itself is impermanent

What else there to say 

To the ticking clock

Hallelujah

James Lee Jobe

Marcello Castellani

Sometimes the scandal isn't what law was broken, but what the law allows. 

Edward Snowden

Perfect weather 

Not hot, not cold, just right

Sitting in the park 

I wonder if the kitty regrets her timing

Clearly she didn’t get what she pounced for

Beautiful sunshine on Davis California

As a field mouse makes a run for it

James Lee Jobe

Michal Lukasiewicz

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Thanks, JLJ

pine seeds in the wind

Don't expect others to praise you or raise toasts to you. Don't count on receiving credit for your good deeds or good practice.

Chögyam Trungp

A water moccasin and a hummingbird 

are the same in the void   

so are you and jesus   

or even a pebble and jesus   

lay down your thoughts and welcome the void  

as a young man I wandered all over this country 

it’s the same as having settled down 

in this valley for thirty years 

comparisons are useless anyway 

everything is equal in the void

James Lee Jobe

Phil Koch

You've got to dig it to dig it, you dig?

Thelonious Monk

Staying up most of the night working on poems 

oh lonely bones - can’t you rest 

why should I 

even now a strong wind carries 

some pine seeds to the earth 

even now the boats slide 

down the long Sacramento River to the bay 

a new day begins and I am alive

James Lee Jobe

Link: CLICK HERE to go to a wonderful poem by Ted Kooser over on the Poetry Foundation site.

Please help support this blog with a small donation on the BUY ME A COFFEE link below. Every little bit helps! Thanks, James