in between the beats of an oompah band

Leonardo da Vinci - Lily, 1480, chalk & ink on paper

fresh quail eggs for breakfast

fresh quail eggs for breakfast black coffee
strong enough to lift a man and boy
without hardly trying sunrise broken by the tracks of coyotes calling february by its first name
like a friend putting a fine western saddle
on a gray wisp of cloud and riding hard
above the long dry arroyo roping the desert sky and tying its hooves and marking it with your brand
that strength in your arms and chest
the rattlesnake looks at you considers shaking the rattle and then just moves on
the feel of your boots in the stirrups

james lee jobe

The little things?
The little moments?
They aren't little.

Jon Kabat-Zinn

Living in the margins on the sides of the paper is my new job.

I have opened a vein so that the guppies can swim. At night I put the sun into a slot in the mall parking lot. Then we dream in blessed darkness, we dream in between the beats of an oompah band. In the morning, rested, blessed by birds, I take the sun back out again. Living in the margins on the sides of the paper is my new job. I no longer have a use for calendars or clocks or lists. There are more guppies than I have blood. In the margins,Ii write these things down with a number two pencil. If there are mistakes, I just leave them. Then you have something to do, too.

james lee jobe

The future is completely open and we are writing it moment to moment. 

Pema Chödrön



no moon the darkest night

perhaps you have traced the length of the crime with a finger
or outlined your dream in chalk like the corpse of the victim

somewhere a dog barked and far off a train the solid weight
of the cross and you genuflected commanded by your piety

no moon the darkest night footsteps on the gravel walk
then footsteps on the porch for a moment silence

then there were strong solid blows pounding on the door
yes you were afraid but you opened it anyway

james lee jobe

All is impermanent, quickly passing. Wake up! Wake up, each one! Don’t waste this life. Dogen Zenji

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