Poetry
Who gives a fig?
by Anna Eskenazi Bush Twig tea Turkish figs who gives a fig? Normally happy and optimistic when you have had fatigue for 18 months and then you have a cold and then it is cold outside and then you want to work and do at least a thing or two and no one believes you though some pretend I am learning to be and not do but doing is okay sometimes I'd smash something against the wall if I had the energy Athena Debased
Why does Sadie always smell of alcohol? (not beer, maybe whiskey) She looks like Mother Earth and Athena Her mind is keen it works, organizes, analyzes, thinks. From a distance, all seems well but close up... the smell |
Saving Our Eyes with Donuts & Wrens
By Anna Eskenazi Bush and Rosanna Bonfilio Saving our eyes with donuts and wrens Get out the pens Let’s make amends I am Anna Yes, I like bananas And my friend Rosanna Told of an article she read While lying in bed About eyes she said When reading we need to look away Stop reading, just a slight delay Or else our curious eyes will pay Look away, look up, look out From her window, Rosanna can see A truck with a donut bigger than me It might go good with a cup of tea But Rosanna is not a big sugar fan She’d rather cook tofu up in a pan Her eyes and waist are safe, oh man Now me, when I’m on video call The birds, the wrens, are on the ball And come to my window feeders, never to fall So, thank you donuts and birds I hope you all have heard And do not think it absurd That we can save our eyes It is no lie Bye-bye |
Wisdom Highlights
By Anna Eskenazi Bush Old age, those ugly gray hairs reminding the reflection in the mirror that youth fades and moves us closer to death But I smile at that reflection because I see wisdom highlights, not gray hair I smile at that reflection for the spirit in that seasoned body is free I smile at that reflection that has a deep knowing of everything being interconnected a knowing that death is an illusion |
P.S. This poem is gluten-free
Anna Eskenazi Bush If you tried to cheer me with an up-beat melody that made my heart sing inside made my bones long to rise called my soul to dance would I dare to risk, to take a chance and toddle to the open floor attempt to soar only to drop down suddenly in a chair from my limp spaghetti legs unable to support my dream Yet joyfully I sing watching the diaper-clad toddler dancing awkwardly like elbow pasta shimmying in boiling water she is risking nothing free to flow get up and go as her heart is soaring her soul is in every wiggle and, upon tiring she plops down and studies her toes |
Yell
By Anna Eskenazi Bush Yell for the hell of it but not for the anger of it Yell at the void but not to avoid reality The full moon shines while I whine My very real struggles sometimes are too much for my eyes and heart Now your part starts with your ears and heart Hear and acknowledge keep your personal knowledge inside Be silent Be still Listen deeply Let your heart love shine These real struggles are mine Not for you to dissect Or object but to hold space learn grace no trace of unsolicited advice Just support No retort Mouth closed Eyes and heart open |
Young People Love My Hair
by Anna Eskenazi Bush In the past week two random young people told me they loved my hair My crazy, black and white, curly, frizzy, longish hair And what pleased me most about these interactions was not so much the compliment but the feeling that these young people really get how important it is to just be yourself express yourself and love yourself as yourself |