the black olives of her eyes

if I just keep trying perhaps 

one day I'll write a poem strong enough 

to lift the world in its muscular arms

james lee jobe 

The affairs of the world will go on forever. Do not delay the practice of meditation. 

Jetsun Milarepa 

black olives

 

so you see her there, somewhere, anywhere,

 

and you know that it is her. the black olives

 

of her eyes are whispering little things

 

that even she doesn't hear, only you.

 

and inside your soul, the bulls are running wild

 

through the streets and the imam

 

is giving the call to prayer. what can you say

 

to her? what can you do? and already

 

the curves of her dress are moving toward

 

the street, taking her away from you, back

 

to that life she already has without you.

 

your mind is blank, you have nothing,

 

and not knowing what words will fall

 

from your stupid lips, you reach out

 

and touch her shoulder lightly, and even

 

that slight touch is a gift from heaven,

 

and she turns to you with a question

 

in the lovely black olives of her eyes,

 

and you, you damn fool, you begin to speak.

james lee jobe 

You're only as young as the last time you changed your mind.

Timothy Leary

dogs don't make plans 

why should I?

james lee jobe 

People who read poetry have heard about the burning bush, but when you write poetry, you sit inside the burning bush. 

Li-Young Lee

since the funeral

 

the dust of the desert. in the mouth.

 

the eyes.

 

a dry wind to eat the heart while it still beats.

 

for what it lacks.

 

walking. the sky full of stars.

 

the stomach twisted from need and loss.

 

the ache of an empty life.

 

one foot goes in front of the other.

 

a step at a time. this desert goes on and on.

 

the night passes one second at a time.

 

tell me, angel, what of tomorrow?

 

tomorrow will be the same, james, inshallah.

james lee jobe 

A clever mind is not a heart. 

Taoist Proverb

eight billion people on earth 

and the only one who will have me 

is here 

and she is the only one I wanted

anyway 

james lee jobe 

Try to think of that flower without the soil from which it grows, without the sunlight that helps it grow and illuminates it, without the very space in which it stands, or without the particular time in which it is there. Suddenly you no longer have a flower at all.

Filip Holm

I want my poems to sing without music, not loud, but rather soft, and steady, really steady, with words and sentences like my breath.

james lee jobe 

O Spirit of Love, enlarge our sympathies toward all troubled folk. Let us be generous of heart, that we might forgive and be forgiven.

Rev. Richard S. Gilbert

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jlj