Observation 8

Observation:
I love when the sky looks like this
When the day’s final sigh
Fogs the celestial glass
With a blushing band in the west
The color of orange cream soda
Swelling into the encroaching blue
That velvet blanket is already adorned
In twinkling opaline fire
A funhouse mirror
That changes the above and below
A reality reconsidered
A magician unfurling his cloak for the prestige

Observation 7

Observation:
His hat declares him a corporal
And his left eye is the rebel flag
He says he had a heart attack
And he left the next morning
The doctors said he’d be back
That no one wants to die
He says that he’d already been saved
Back in Vietnam
But if he’d known how things would go
He never would have let them

Observation 6

Observation:
The shopping cart
That I first saw on the lot
And then in a dumpster
And then in front of a different one
Turned down and out of place
Is now tucked behind a wall
As if it is hiding
Ashamed
Or wounded from neglect
A rat rises from its basket into the trees
I thought we were alone here

Observation 5

Observation:
I went outside without my phone
I want to say I noticed the grapefruit colored sky
Or the knots hanging from the branches of the neighboring palm
But these things were already in my vocabulary
In truth what I noticed was how the drone of the cicadas
Merged with the thrum of AC units
And heavy traffic in the distance

Observation 4

Observation:
There is a smooth stone
Outside my apartment door
I notice it every day
Crystalized fog
Polished by unknown hand or process
I could take it inside
Feel it cool in my fingers
But then
It would not be there to greet me
And I know one day it will be gone
Just like before it arrived
But that’s okay with me too
There is still time

Observation 3

Observation:
Down at the end of the lot
There is a bush bowed in a circle
Like an ancient sea shell
I’ve seen it hundreds of times
But had never seen it
As I looked a car entered the highway
From the side street ahead
Making a perfect point of life
In the center of its curves

Observation 2

Observation:
It is golden hour
The grass is frosted yellow
By the fading sun
A dog walks into the grass
And contributes
His touch of sparkling citrine