you'll need this when you grow up

“Poetry is life distilled.”

Gwendolyn Brooks

Toos van Holstein

flatlands of lovely sunrises and sunsets 

rich soil farmland 

300 miles long 

100 miles wide 

drained by 2 massive rivers  

the sacramento and the san joaquin 

and many smaller ones 

the rivers wash us clean 

and distance helps define us and time both 

california’s great central valley 

my home for over 35 years

hope is that small and quiet person 

who knocks at the door very lightly 

will you listen for the knock 

will you let hope in

I counted and numbered the blades of grass

across all of the fields of springtime

I inventoried the stars and divided the number

by thirteen for poetic reasons

I found out how many telephone poles there are

in yuba county california it wasn't so difficult

why did I do these things

for all the mathematics teachers I had as a boy

who lied and said "you'll need this when you grow up"

what horseshit

I tallied the sunrises since I was born,

nearly 25 thousand

I counted the lovers that I can remember

even though none of them matter but you

James Lee Jobe

Wes Montgomery - Here's That Rainy Day

London, 1965

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James