hello. this is your house; i’m aware.
i don’t know how to say this kindly, but
i was here
before you.
i was here
before that blonde house-flipper in the flannel made cheap renovations to the facade.
i was here
before the previous family fell into addiction and the house fell into squalor.
i was here
before the men in hard hats put together the 'good bones' the realtor told you about.
i was here
before ox hooves and wagon wheels left tracks in my mud.
i was here
before the first humans foraged for huckleberries and hunted deer in my foliage.
i was here
first.
i will continue to be here
after i’m done with you.
Tag: Environment
it’s a new year
it’s a new year.
a wet rain fly hangs
over your shower rod.
look over three stacks of unread books.
out your window, rain falls
through steam ascending from
the open mouth of your complex’s hot tub.
ripples jump around the puddle
on the caving pool cover
like the dots on listen to wikipedia
after another gazan hospital bombing.
water drips
from a rudolph nose on your neighbor’s altima,
from the lip of a pot of dead bell peppers,
along the rust marks on the community barbecue.
above the trees,
the sky is a blank sheet of paper
staring back at you.
rivers of ice
in movies slow motion brings the viewer’s attention to critical information in reality slow motion allows critical information to fade into the ether in movies your justice complex is admirable leads to the solution to a problem in reality your justice complex is a burden causes your ostracization in movies slow motion builds tension the viewer can’t look away in reality slow motion lacks urgency the viewer looks at their phone in movies your anxiety fuels a pursuit for knowledge brings community to the cause in reality your anxiety stops you at the threshold builds walls around you in movies a happy ending applause roars as you’re recognized for your efforts in reality there is none calved chunks of ice crowd the bow of your boat
M. Espinosa 