today is october 23 and maika and I drove for 33 hours from california to alabama to visit julia and today we are sitting
heaven is
a Yukon parked outside with Alabama plates and a goose and her babies sitting at the right rear wheel
it is a cloudy blue sky on a balmy late October afternoon
& this old striped couch
it is curly typing hair in front, celebrating Breonna Taylor’s legacy above, and a crunchy figure drawing hanging below
it is soft skin to drop tears on
and green grass to gaze at
heaven is meandering aimlessly from room to room
muttering ‘i love that for me’
and the books that make up a life: Reading Lolita in Tehran, The Craft of Research, Pete Souza’s Obama and DBT Skills Training Manual
heaven is casual TRX and jumping around cats and a plant filled laundry room
it is wondering what to say and knowing exactly what to say
and wrapping paper stacked in a corner waiting patiently for Christmas
heaven is a quiet house, three purposeful rooms filled with purposeless activity, 3 people moving forward, backward, divergent and together
heaven is the gift of sitting still
it is living & working, working & living
and striped grey socks for each chair foot and
quietly talking to old demons inside
and standing up
and sitting down to text everyone back
and the purring question of a spotted nose poking wetly into a foot
heaven is co-existing in silence
and choosing kin, life, food, hours and space
it is french vanilla french press and sharing the breakfast dishes and the small gift of caramel biscotti and chocolate-forward trail mix and the woes of extra plastic packaging
this is heaven
in each silent moment that passes
the love of a life shared by chance and choice
yesterday and today and tomorrow
Alimentarily 