Caroline Gerardo's Blog, page 14

Rosary Morning

Chumash Indians were not better off.We assume wrong-facts from historyWe see living off nature as poverty,the economically poor are unhappy,those who don't drive to urgent care,those who don't own a Range Rover,those who lug Luis Vuitton luggage Having builds desire for emptiness.
I was in a hurry this morning to work.The gas light blinks on, I can't make it.On the front seat I had red cabbage and purple chard, first of spring to share.With my olive drab twenty dollar billI put a brown bag of the vegetables tothe random man behind the formicacounter top, "twenty on seven please,and these veggies are from my garden."He peeks in the bag, incredulously,"Oh my mother had these," he says inheavy Pakistani syntax English accent.A red headed woman in a XT 5 2018Cadillac SUV is cursing at the creditcard machine slot for her gas pump.She tells me, "this God dam placeis the worst station for miles around."I smile but don't answer, not wantingto engage in her rage morning event.Behind black tinted windows twochildren in cars seats in the back fuss.She tells them to "shut the f... up," and storms into the cashier office.I'm not certain I ought to leave thechildren in her vehicle alone, so Istand in front of her shiny new carwhich has the driver side door open.My fuel finished pumping and shedoesn't return, I see the childrenare two and five approximately.Cars park, pump and disappear.Still, the flaming red head doesnot return. I lift my shoulders,give a shy wave to the childrenwho now silently watch me.I wonder if her credit cardis hacked, or overdrawn or?Here she comes, blue veinsin forehead popping out mad.
"God dam Indians why don't theygo back to Mexico farms," rants.
Her information is dead wrong.Bigotry hot as wax searing skin.I correct her mistake in thought.Dig rock clay with iron to findwater to plant the three sisters,rise bread in wood fire oven,laundry washes sin outdoors,kneel to scrub the terra cottaIn 1824 the Chumash revolted, burned red head's Cadillac to dust.In my mind; but I say to her,"Your Grandchildren are beautiful."Knowing they are likely her own,wish I had shared a life changingsnappy way to turn her her around.
I return to the safety of my truck.The aroma of coffee fills the cab.I think of the holy water font atthe Mission and recite the rosaryas I drive on to work I pray.
Caroline Gerardo copyright April 3, 2018 # 3 of my poem a day for #NationalPoetrymonth laundry fountain
bread oven
ancient hoe 
mill
sundial

Up and Work It's Spring

"Up and at 'em!"Thought was atomfor centuries, nowlearn it's military,not small matterevery day chargeto rise and workpick the weeds.

National Poem-a-Day Challenge
Can I do it?


Caroline Gerardo copyright April 2, 2018

Code Word is Bunny

First day of Spring 


before a kiss goodbye
remember darlings
code word is bunnywear  shoes that runsephora pepper spraya whistle on a chainsheath pocket knife camera on the porchcell phone chargedpractice hide drillswatch strangers act a civil defense dutyto record crime livebe so ready to fightdo cover your headmap escape accessdo not be impairedknow all neighborswork plan to escapecarry all medicationphone as flashlight objects as weaponsplan other escapethe meeting placeyes we are ready
wear brave smilesurvive childkiss kiss

copyright Caroline Gerardo March 20 2018

Code Word for Action is Bunny

First day of spring 


before a kiss goodbye
remember darlings
code word is bunnywear shoes that runpink pepper spraywhistle on a chainsheath pocket knife camera on the porchcell phone chargedpractice hide drillswatch strangers act civil defense dutyrecord crime livebe ready to fightcover your headaccess to escapedon't be impairedknow neighborswork to escapecarry medicationflashlight phoneobject as weaponplan an escapemeeting placewe are ready
brave smilesurvive childkiss kiss

copyright Caroline Gerardo March 20 2018

Joe Fay Lyric Essay

Painted Totem Birdhouse with cat and three birds



Black Headed Grosbeak a songbird
fish crow whose nasal calls ring from salt marshes

Young Gray Jay, hearty bird in cold








Excerpt from Lyric essay to be published:


Joe Fay’s angler fly-rod flexes luring a trout, imitating the flight of an insect. Joe Fay’s paintings at LA Artcore perch for a moment, ready to take flight into a dream-scape. An answer to a bird call, “fee bee o, ”  from the Alder Flycatcher’s mate arrives in a kaleidoscope of tropical music heard by Paul Gauguin in another time.  The paintings sing in zig-zag patterns that pick at childhood memories of marble painting, hot summers skipping rocks in creeks, and rick rack birdhouses gone wild.


Fay pulls you upon a journey. Back to waka poems, or Ebru of the 10th Century were inscribed upon drifting sandpaper. Reminds of the Turkish marbling you tried to imitate, not knowing ancient Persians also used colorful clouded papers, only to find your hands muddied by the combination of red and green. Fay doesn’t use earthly umber or brown, he revels in joyful hues of merlot, magenta, lapis, and cerulean.

Don’t think the palette is primary colors. Fay doesn’t wax heavy-handed. His brush is a slender stream that wicks and tears wet paint into streams of thickets of acrylic. With pointed wings, Fay draws birds of Montana, friends he knows well. Aerial feeders open their beaks to the sky. A Black Crowned Night Heron watches from a neon branch for its prey. Ravens circle a landscape as if enchanted by a spell.  The thick soup of foam and paint glisten as jewels sprayed clean by morning mist. Paint appears to continue bleeding like a stream of marshmallow. I refer to the sap of the Althaea officinalis which was reserved for gods and royalty of the ancient Egyptians, nor corn starch.

Fay’s show includes drawings on paper with his signature zip tie language, works on canvas, fans, and birdhouse sculpture reliefs with beaks that scare off predators. Nature flows upon the canvas.Los Angeles welcomes back Joe Fay from his migration from Montana. The show is up until March 28th.



Video below shows the viscosity in the paint, plus clips from his thoughts live at the exhibition.

UNION CENTER FOR THE ARTS LA ARTCORE UNION CENTER FOR THE ARTS120 Judge John Aiso Street Los Angeles, CA, 90012

copyright  © all rights reserved images, video and lyric essay
 Caroline Gerardo 

Dance At Every Chance Poem

Dixie Dance
At 5 A. M. jump from bed chores need care.Break all  ice on top  ~     of the water bowls.Dogs are first, because I can't stand their stare.Bourguignon stew in congealed hunks of meat.
Next feed cats, go let out the chickens, beware.Blue jays wait on a rail for spilled cracked corn.We make it until    ~    next harvest with prayer.Just enough fodder   ~    left from summer sun.
Rubber knee boots for the barn hike I wearWrap a wool scarf   ~   I see Dixie is gone.She pecks at my outfits as a fashion flair.Call her for treats as other chooks scramble.
Heavy heart's a weight tears bubble rain.Pups remind ~ responsibility waits.  Failure as a mother causes me painDamn coyotes stole innocent away.
A parent should not out-live their petScorpions in firewood, crabs in the pondTeach the babies to tuck, run and not fretReturn to the cabin to find feathers.
A surprise daughter feeding Dixie bugsThere on the grass we do a joyful danceCelebrate life chances for loving hugsShare all you can before they disappear.


Remind to give Dixie slices of pear


Caroline Gerardo copyright © poem and video February 21, 2018 all rights reserved

For Kazemi a Stump Ghazal

 A Call to Say you Leave for Paris in an Hour
I will go to Paris?With last few treesI want to learn moreI want to thank youYou are to delete me?
How will I know Rome?Po river bronze or goldI want to learn moreI want to thank youYou are Mars of Todi.
Am I a mere potter?Main love is completeI want to learn moreI want to thank youLeopard of iron oxide.
Why wave goodbye?Valentines Day tearsI want to learn moreI want to thank youFor I am only C. G.


Poem and image Copyright February 14, 2018 Caroline Gerardo

Poem Resolution

resolutionsAvoid Prius and Civic driversBe a listener for my childrenCare of flowers in the gardenDo things that overcome, fixEarn trust of creative soulsFind the one true loveGo where heart is happyHunt for beta reader to editIgnore aches when I hikeJump at opportunity to travelKnow my worth and say noLove earthly and celestial Manage money to growNeed organic healthy foodOpt away from drinking Pray the rosary dailyQuit negative self-doubtRemember greet morningSavor change is my pathThankful grateful appreciateUndo knots that waste timeValue my plans and goalsWear a coat of strengthX's are not my worryYearn for better and do soZzz for sleep to recharge


Caroline Gerardo copyright 2018

Flight Poem

New Years Present to YouWatch my video, fly blind with Vespers touch ultramarine surmountrelease earthly worry shun sulfur grass hurrysay no to waste of timemake the change, problems evaporatesparrows chase a river your strength won't shiver
Much Love 
Caroline GerardoCopyright  © January 4, 2017
Flight Poem

Sorry To Disrupt The Peace Review

Second book I've read in 2018. In 2017 I didn't review many of more than two hundred books I read.This year I hope to write a review of one or two a month. 
Helen Moran hears the news, her adopted brother dies of apparent suicide. We follow Helen on a one way journey back to her not home to uncover the secrets of his death. At the onset she tells us, "At the time of his death I was a thirty-two-year-old woman, single, childless, irregularly menstruating and partially employed. …Long, long ago I made peace with my plainness."
Helen is not a reliable narrator. She describes her genius at being ethical and detachment from the needy teens at her work. Helen is not "Sister Reliability" as she embellishes, lies and misdirects us with banal details. 
What is uncovered is a dark longing to connect with a past that is not Korean or American, not Midwestern or Urban. 
Patty Yumi Cottrell weaves a story that we must pick through the comedy and magic tricks to come to grips with suicide. 
Cottrell's prose is beautifully clear at haunting the reader's brain to fill the gaps and uncover the signs.She's not sorry to disrupt. 
Five stars
I own this book if you want to borrow it. 



Newsworthy, off topic the Sea of Trees in Japan, the Aokigahara forest is the down fall of another soul this week  For immediate intervention:
United States of America – National Suicide Hope Line – 1-800-784-2433. United Kingdom – 08457 90 90 90 or www.samaritans.org.uk. Assistance is available in other countries through www.suicide-helplines.org.

 additional resources with help:
* http://www.teenhealthandwellness.com/static/hotlines
* http://www.nationalsafeplace.org/find-a-safe-place
* http://www.katimorton.com/counseling-and-prevention-resources/
* https://www.helpguide.org/service-directory/
* http://hopeafterabortion.com/?page_id=88