You and Me

Recycling somewhat fetid breath
I inhale through this mask
And I wonder, do I have it?

My mask for you, your's for me

I try to smile bigger, you must see
How wide my eyes and cheeks are
And I wonder, do you have it?

My mask for you, your's for me

Washing hands is now fanatic
Touching, hugging problematic
I wonder if I'm asymptomatic

My mask for you, your's for me

Simple things now seem exotic
Longing for a time chaotic
When will the line go asymptotic?

(c) 2020, Norman Dziedzic Jr.

Juneteenth

I am not from a place
       That lets me fully understand your pain
I am not from a space
       That has shared your struggle
I am not from a path
       That has walked your miles
I am not from a race
       That has endured your trials

I am in a place
       That is learning to understand
I am in a space
       That is ready to listen
I am on a path
       To share your miles
I am in a race
       To help erase your trials

(c) 2020, Norman Dziedzic Jr.

Dogs and Fish

It seems so surreal
Moving together apart
While almost nothing has changed
Everything is different

The dogs
Ultimate empaths know
Something is amiss
But the fish don't care

And it's easy
To feel, to feel alone
And it's easy
To know, to know I
Don't know what to do

But then I hear you talk
And then I know, I know you
Feel the same, feel the same, and
In some canine way I
Feel less amiss

Covid Ghost Light

At the end of the evening
On every stage
The lamp is placed
The lamp is lit
Waiting for the next performance

This time the curtain fell hard
Almost without warning
The sound boards muffled, the
Costumes stored, the sets brought down
To save the world

And the students of the backstage
Shift from build to
Impromptu strike to a time
Without building, without making
The story come to life

But the ghost light waits for them
Warding off the plain,
The normal, the boring. Ready
To lead each back; to bring to life
The magic that lives within them

Covid Calendar

The shared calendar, techno-wonder,
Has unified our paths
Apart by miles
Together in time

Quietly connecting to the
Grand and mundane moments
Of each others' lives
Brings comfort to distance

And now we share the deleted.
The recitals, the gigs, the recordings
Each a victim, sacrificed
To save the world

But the music is only waiting
A month, a season, yearning
To fill the slots in the calendar
To fill the slots in our souls.

Why I Care

Yesterday's snow snuck in
    Overnight, mostly

A gift from this world
  Of calm
  And beauty

The forest preserve
   Stopped in time and sunshine
   A black and white image
   In this colored Milieu
   Drew a tear of joy

This world can still
   Amaze me
           Can still
   Stop my breath
   In a good way
           Can still
   Let me know
           Why I care
           Why I care

Covid Butterfly

We used to laugh and say 
 A butterfly flapped its wings in Brazil
 And triggered a tornado in Texas

We used to think of us and them
        As separate

We used to believe our oceans would
        Hinder the assault

   But now we know
           We are one
 
       Now we know
       How small an ocean is

   And now we know
       A butterfly
      Or a bat
      Or a 150 nanometer sphere

   Can trigger tornadoes
   Around the world

Friday March 20,2020

We wear this crown now daily

As peons we thought
         We dreamed
         Though unattainable
How wonderful it must be

But now, collectively
         We know
         We feel
The weight of this crown
              This corona

Saturday March 21,2020

             A      
           PLACE    
        IN   A      
S          P ACE    
SHE                 
 H      I  P        
 HE                 
S  L    I  P        
S EL        L       
      R I     CE    
S EL        L       
        I     CE    
 HEL       P        
SHE  E     P        
 HEL         L      
      R      ACE    
 HE                 
SHE                 
             A      
           P ACE    
      R I  P        
              A     
S  L    I     CE    
SHE                 
 HE          A      
S          P ACE    
SHELTER IN PLACE    

Creation II

      Not usually easy
         You find you need
            To travel outside
               The normal bounds

      While comfort sleeps (you)
         Steal away lithly
            With pen and knife
               Seeking inflection points

(you) Hack apart memory
         Hack apart dreams
            Hack apart consciousness
               Puzzle pieces all

      When you remember nothing
         When you feel nothing
            When you know nothing
         (you) Know it is close

      And now you fight
         To stay off course
            To stay off key
         (you) Stay amorphous

      Palter while you can;
         Shuffle pieces while you can
            In this collapsing void
         (you) Plunder rapaciously

      Anon the bubble fractures
         Temporal frame returning
            Brilliance fleeting
               Exhaustion blankets (you)

      With light retuning (you)
         Mine mental flotsam
            As normalcy
               Fades into existence

(you) Take these crumbs
         Injecting essence
            Into waiting veins
               Renewing the muse.

(c) 2018, Norman Dziedzic Jr.

Creation I

It wasn't there
     Before
     Before the breath
     Moved there was
     Something less

It moved something
     But not
     Before the thought
     Moved there was
     Nothing there

It wanted
     Nothing
     Nothing but air
     Moved the thought
     Moved to confess

It confessed something
     New
     New air thought
     Nothing less than
     To be there

(c) 2018, Norman Dziedzic Jr.

Branching

Leaves branching out from

Branches fanning out from the

Trunk holding up all

(c) Copyright 2017, Norman Dziedzic Jr.

On Board

Window washing
Budget squashing
Talk talk talk
Money running
Fee gunning
Walk walk walk

Chair renting
Unit venting
Push push push
Factor spinning
Model pinning
Gush gush gush

Time eating
Code bleating
Sunk sunk sunk
Issue spilling
Mind filling
Plunk plunk plunk

(c) Copyright 2017, Norman Dziedzic Jr.

Terracotta Worrier

Inspired by a recent trip to the Field Museum in Chicago.

 

Click image for higher resolution version.

(c) Copyright 2017, Norman Dziedzic Jr.

Repeats

Tree Man

Five Minute Poem #12

Jazz as breath
In and out
Yes

But sideways
And other ways
Unknown until
Played

Not scripted but
Not random

In rhythm and time
And time again
When just off the beat
Is right on

Comfortably unknown
In a familiar sort of way

And ways to see
And ways to feel
Anew and Askew

4:50.56

(c) 2014, Norman Dziedzic Jr.

Five Minute Poem #9

Happenstance places
   Disparate forces in proximity
   To Each Other

Often
   Only for lost moments

Yet sometimes
   On courses of lost
   Eternities

The beginning
   Unknown

Only twisting
   Now in fantastic swirls
Then in writhing tangles

This knot
   
   Holding

      Holding
 
         Holding on

4:37.56

(c) 2014, Norman Dziedzic Jr.

Five Minute Poem #4

The news is always nonchalant

Weather on the plains
Weather on the coast
Weather on the battle field

Stock futures up
Stock futures down
Rockets up
Rockets down

The dog was lost yesterday
And the peace was lost
Last week
Both were found dead
With service information to follow

Human interest
So bland
Disinterested

Tomorrow's weather forecast:

Sorrow

4:56.55

(c) 2014 Norman Dziedzic Jr.

Peaceful Scream

 (c) Norman Dziedzic Jr.