My internal babushka is concerned.
On days as windy as today,
one cannot help but worry
for one’s line-drying laundry.

It was a day very similar to this one
when I found my sheet
in the neighbor’s yard.

A malfunction
in a device from HeartWare International Inc. (HTWR)
used to take over the heart’s
beating
action
led to a patient death,
U.S. regulators said.

The company’s shares declined.

The hard beauty
of sharp edges,
dry lands filled with raw
emotion.

An arboreal beauty I won’t besmirch:
the pale, clean lines of the paper birch.
Yellow leaves waving over river yonder
and white paper skin leaves me ponder:
Gleaming queen of the silver stream,
Birch,

Thou art
lovely, and so temperate.

Sometimes
I hate the microwave
because watching the timer
reminds me of my mortality.

Moments like this create
a space, however
temporary, for seeds of change
to slip beneath the hardened
soil of our hearts.

Today
spiritually
feels like Monday.

Is there an
exorcist
in the house?