hortus conclusus

  Well, my love is away, and we have been apart for over a week now, and two days to go. I am lonely but not too; after the conference and the very pleasant but busy visit with my brother and sister-in-law in Detroit, I am happy to have some time alone. Alone that is, but not alone. I have Guerlain’s princess Nahema , a blowsy dark friend who floats around me, whispering in my ear. I have a glass of wine. and I have the moon. And I have my poems, one of which reflects my sentiments tonight exactly. Moon, Flowers, Man I raise my cup and invite The moon to come down from the Sky. I hope she will accept Me. I raise my cup and ask The branches, heavy with flowers, To drink with me. I wish them Long life and promise never To pick them. In company With the moon and the flowers, I get drunk, and none of us Ever worries about good Or bad. How many people Can comprehend our joy? I Have wine and moon and...

I have odd religious beliefs. Although I am certainly agnostic bordering on atheistic when it comes to God, I do find myself believing in /paying close attention to other ‘supernatural’ occurrences. For example, I am a strong believer in luck, bad luck, the evil eye, ghosts (under certain circumstances), and fate. How I reconcile this belief with my lack of faith in the afterlife or in a higher divine power is unknown to me… : ) that’s just the way I’ve always been. Sometimes I think I would have made a good animist—I totally think the world is filled with different life-forces that inhabit it and exert their influence over us humans… I am getting all mystical right now because I think FATE, for some odd reason, decided the winner of this draw for samples of rosy fragrances. Here’s what happened. I typed out all entrants’ names, and then cut each out on a little strip. At this point, one fell out of my hands—Fox and Squirrel. I wondered if that meant that I should consider the win...