Watermelon Peperomia

Today I'm low on words
But as always, on my fire escape, lands various birds
Seagulls, hummingbirds, pigeons and sparrows
And when the mourning doves land and coo
I meditate to the sound and I drift off and
I think about you

Today I'm low on words
But I ain't short on feelings
Some days I'm overjoyed about various conversations I'm overhearing
Girls giggling in line at the taco truck
Talking about being all grown up
Saying, "We're responsible enough to buy our own food"
Then, "We're responsible enough to buy our own booze"
Then one of them said, "Sir, are we annoying you?"
And I said, "No", and I smiled
Listen to the machismo construction guys
Talk about how San Francisco is a filthy dump
And how they'd know how to handle the forest fires
If it was up to them
And fluffing their feathers
And parolees at the picnic table talking about San Quentin dentists
And did they share the same dentist who gave them Vicodin and Percocets

Today, I'm low on words
Thinking about trips to Point Reyes and Big Sur
The other day, we went to Point Reyes
And we walked the beach and we fished all day
On the way back, we gazed at the elk
Our hands all scaly and smelling like smelt
We kept driving and driving, and we gazed at the bulls
Kicking up dirt, and I used up my film roll
We kept driving 'till there was nothing but fenceposts
Then right dead-center stood a coyote
We swerved left fast in my buddy's Mercury
And the tires hit a pothole
And the car chugged along to, to San Geronimo
Eventually the car was towed
And eventually he got home, and I got home
And with my rock fishing crap, I made cioppino
With heirloom tomatoes and corn and potatoes
And I watched three episodes of Monzón all alone
Did Carlos kill his wife? Nobody knows
But the judge and the jury seem to think so
So I'm going on and on, but what's inside my soul?
I'm missing you to death, wish you could taste my cioppino
I'm wishing you could lie beside me in bed
And let me cradle you like you were a newborn
And fall asleep next to you meditating to the foghorns
That's what I want, that's my soul

So what do you do when you're low on words?
Write about what's going on in your world
No matter how bland, no matter how mundane
Write about your journeys, your happiness, your pain
Write about your journeys, your happiness, your pain
Write about the window, what you think it's whispering
Write about what you watch and what you're reading
Write about food like Cibo Matto
And write a little bit about what's living in your soul

Woke up this morning with the cooing doves
I called you up and said, "Good morning, my love
Let's meet for breakfast, let's meet for lunch"
I left early and surprised her with succulents
A panda plant, a watermelon peperomia
At the corner of Pote in California
I was smiling at a bag of succulents
You make my day, my happiness list
You and my friends, you and my sis
You always make my happiness list
You make me feel loved, you make me feel blessed
You bring me calm, you relieve my stress
You make feel loved, you make me feel whole
You are my heart, you are my soul