12 Little-known Facts About Dragonflies

Here are some little-known facts about dragonflies:

1) They sing en masse just before the sunrise.
2) When they swarm, they form complex geometric patterns.
3) A dragonfly in Boston can faintly hear the fluttering wings of its cousin in Santa Fe.
4) A dragonfly bite is a blessing, and takes a month to heal.
5) Even after serious offenses, dragonflies show no remorse.
6) All dragonflies recognize one another as vague reflections of themselves.
7) Dragonflies are not real.
8) Dragonflies naturally distrust snakes for an incident long ago in Eden.
9) Only two types of creatures exist for dragonflies: snakes and dragonflies.
10) Dragonflies have no weapons.
11) Dragonflies have no word for "thank you".
12) When a dragonfly feels love, it dies.

Corporon, A., Frausto, A. (2014)

ramen troll

sometimes love

im sick of a sometimes love

speaking until 6 am sunday

your hand holding my hipbone 

hungry

confessing with kisses

that this is

what bliss is

im sick of a love so fleeting

a mid-week sudden retreating

sick of side-line sitting

till summer

how fitting that you 

would warm up with the waters

im sick of the night sky reminders

-while walking alongside the river-

your eyes were star-shine and silver,

 reflected,

your skin moonlight glowing

im sick of knowing,

in your memory,

the walk was you and the genesee

and i was there
 to bear witness

cosmos: part 4

Planet Earth was waiting in her steady dance. Her elliptical journeys were carefully choreographed calls through the Universe. "Life here. I am here. Hello." No response yet. Maybe her grammar was rusty.
-
hide and seek

Dark matter was hiding.
10.
Not in closets. Not in alleys.
9, 8...
Not in sewers, nor attics.
7, 6...
Not in your neighbor's garden, not in your mother's cooking.
5, 4, 3...
Not in your back jean pocket.
2.
Not in your weary footsteps.
1.
-
It hadn't occurred to him what a meep was until he saw one. It came from the sky, parting the clouds, bouncing off the dollar store awning, landing by the sewer drain. 

He saw it there and said, "Well, that's a meep if I ever did see one." 

And, of course, he had never seen one before. 

And no one had ever seen a meep before. Because a meep had never before existed. 

"Well, what are you even doing here? You've sure come a long way from home." 

That much was true, but our friend did not realize just how far and just how much the meep had sacrificed.

Because the meep was not always a meep. The meep was a god. 

Our friend is Ole Man Grody, the neighborhood hobo. Nobody calls him Ole Man Grody, save for three young children who were obsessed with the man in the summer of 2002. And myself, of course. And now you. 

So he kept the meep in his shirt pocket, as a charm at first, and then as a companion. Because, he soon realized, that the meep was alive. 

It had occurred to him that the thing was growing. Not outwardly, no. It was still small enough to fit in his hand. But it was heavier. Still, he carried it with him everywhere. And as it grew heavier, its presence was harder to ignore. So that the moment the meep left his pocket, he couldn't help but miss it. 

And then the day came, when the meep broke through his shirt pocket. It must have weighed 5 pounds at that point.

"Well, it really is a shame that you keep growing like this. How am I supposed to keep you, then?" 

He held it with both hands cupped. And just as he asked, it grew. Not outwardly, of course. But it was heavier. Much heavier. 

Ole Man Grody's knees buckled at the shock. Soon he wouldn't be able to hold the thing at all. 

"Well, this is a dilemma if I ever did see one."

 And he decided to go think it through by the duck pond. The meep must have weighed 50 pounds at that point.  

"And where is this heaviness coming from?" Maybe that wasn't Ole Man Grody asking. Maybe it was me. It wasn't the meep.

The duck pond was only a mile away. But the sun was beating down mercilessly. And every step that our friend took was marked by hesitation. Because everything took longer, at his age. He was always reminding his muscles, tendons, and bones, just how to move. Just how to keep going. 

"It's suffering."

The meep was suffering, he realized. Because this world was swimming with heaviness. A heaviness the meep was not prepared to endure. 

"I gotta get you back home!" 

gorgesgorgesgorges

Ithaca is... 

Caduceus

Maybe that's how the desert plants get water.

cosmos: part 3 - intermission

There was a blind man on the bus that night. The night I meant to tell you about. Well, I didn't realize he was blind when he was sitting two seats in front of me.

"Is anybody going to the Park Ave bus!"

He didn't seem to be asking; the way the words landed.

It was the bus that stops at Main & Clinton. That's where I got off. And so did the blind man, behind me. That's when I realized. About him being blind, I mean.

"Can somebody direct me to the Park Ave bus!"

His right arm raised to the heavens. His left arm erratically guiding a long white cane. But the words didn't float at the end. They landed.

"I need to get to the Park Ave Bus!"

Everyone pushed and shoved and rushed around him as he made his way down the sidewalk.

 The bus was empty at this point, except for the bus driver. I looked at him and we exchanged helpless glances. For what it's worth, I could tell he was a good man, this bus driver, but it was late in his shift and he was tired. Still, there was something desperate about the way we looked at each other, like we were looking for something. What were we supposed to do? What were we supposed to do!

You! With the big head!

based on a dream.

cosmos: part 2

God calls me in the evenings. He leaves short, cryptic voice mail messages. Blocked Caller. Always the same. Click Click Rustle Click. How did he get my cell phone number? Off a public bathroom wall, maybe. Click Click Rustle Click. But I can’t call him back. And I never hear the phone ring.

-

Little dark hairs were starting to grow on Mellie’s legs. Jeremy hadn’t really ever noticed before. He hadn’t ever really stared at her legs. But there they were, balancing on his shoulders, brushing against his cheek. It made him blush a bit, but Mellie didn’t seem to notice.

“I swear, Jemmy, if you so much as flinch. I’ll kick your ass.”

And she stretched her arm out towards the rusty window frame.

-

Don Barginear’s pant zipper had the annoying tendency of getting stuck halfway down.

So focused was he, while fiddling with the thing, that he didn’t even notice the Universe’s breathing.

“Ahhh.”

He exhaled as he finally managed to relieve himself. His piss sounding like wind chimes against the porcelain.

“Ahhh.”

The Universe, relieved, as well, as thousands of men on planet Earth simultaneously emptied their bladders.

Ahhh. Ahhh. Ahhhhhhhhh.

-

It was because Mellie’s shoulders were too wide, but…

“It’s the damn window. The damn window’s not wide enough!”

-

The youngest deity was falling. It was an easy thing to do, she realized, once she had made up her mind to do it. She swam, she sung, she projected her existence towards the Earthlings. What would it be to feel? She thought. So spread her light as ink in water, water in ink. The Earth particles attached themselves. She was changing.

-