Ho’oponopono

By Kelsey D. Mahaffey

“In the book of the earth, it is written:
nothing can die.”  – Mary Oliver

 

The morning after it happens
again—weary with all
the thoughtless use of prayer,
I return to the Native path—

for solace,
for remembrance,
for release—

But grief is a heavy hold.

Last night, I lay awake
searching each shooting
star—the moon a wound
the sky refused to heal.

And today, as usual, the sun
woke from bended knees—
rising to break
the long hush of night.

So many have left
to hunt for arms—
answers or anger,
who can say? All around,

there are islands of dew
gathering the spring fields,
birds busy with work—
children still to feed.

Forgive us.

Somehow, a worn cradle of
moon still rocks—heaving waves
upon the shore. A ground dust dances
in the merciful arms of wind.

Dearest Mother,
if we ever choose to weep,
let it be tuned to the depths
of your whale’s forgotten song.

  


Kelsey D. Mahaffey rests her head in Nashville, TN, but keeps half her heart in New Orleans. She needs music and nature like breath and water, and walks the earth barefoot beside three humans and a bow-legged cat. Her work can be seen or is forthcoming in: Eunoia Review, Cumberland River Review, The Sunlight Press, and “The Keeping Room” at Minerva Rising Press.

Photo credit: Debbie Hall, photographer and author, and Writers Resist poetry editor.


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Dave

By David H. Reinarz

 

Dave stepped out of his air-conditioned house and sat down on the front porch. Not on a chair. On the concrete step.

The concrete step on the porch of Dave’s house was very hot. Dave could feel the heat through the seat of his stone-washed denim blue jeans and Fruit of the Loom boxer briefs.

The concrete step of Dave’s house was very hot, because it was 97 friggin’ degrees. Dave’s forehead instantly bloomed with perspiration, followed closely by his armpits. The humidity was probably about 97, too. He took off the turquoise and orange plaid cotton button down shirt. He didn’t want sweat stains on it. He had bought it on an impulse in the fashionable menswear store in Regency.

Dave’s shoulders and arms and back and chest now glistened. The soft soles of his feet were uncomfortable.

This must be what it’s like for those poor devils crossing the Mexican desert, trying to get to the Rio Grande, he thought. Or those poor bastards trying to escape North Africa across the Mediterranean to Europe. Or those poor kids working all day in that factory in Asia who made my plaid shirt. Bloody shame, that is. The world is not an easy place!

Dave took a sip of iced mocha cappuccino. He could go back inside. Inside Dave’s house, the computer-controlled environmental enhancement system kept everything at exactly 72 degrees Fahrenheit and 45 percent humidity.

But, no, he would sit outside on the concrete step of the porch of his house in the heat for a bit longer. You know, in solidarity with all those poor souls trying to claw their way across the face of the planet in search of … what?

Well, he raised his glass in symbolic salute, thoughts and prayers. Thoughts and prayers.

 


David H. Reinarz was born in Minneapolis and now lives in Omaha, Nebraska, and he has a BA in Philosophy and Religious Studies from the University of Nebraska, Omaha. Retired from a career as manager of retail professional bicycle shops, he is an alumnus of the 7 Doctors Writers Workshop (2015) and has been writing short stories and poetry since 2015. Dave is the author of two collections: Story City: Ten Short Stories and One Long Story in the Middle (2016) and The Sweet Jesus Trilogy and Other Stories (2017). His books are available in paperback and Kindle on Amazon.com.

Photo credit: Mr. TinDC via a Creative Commons license.