Caroline Gerardo's Blog, page 21

Light Your Soul

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Sky is grey,  light your heart.
Rabbi Saul not thrown from a horseMidday prayer en route to DamascusBlast of light calls to believe in Christ
Arm car:
flashlights, baseball bat, pump jack,shotgun, stock man's rain slicker, snacks and mani jewel hope.
Your trunk:
 a soccer bag, space blanket, firefly flares and water bottles.

Danger ahead:
Bokii and Barchenkomesh Buddhism communism.Faith keeps lips from drink
Himmer and Hesssought Shambhala.Fear stops press from speak

Nightmare fears of the day
teeth fall out chewing gumchased by wild gendarmespalm oil Nutella is  poison
Throw off orange jumpsuitCease texting while drivinglimestone cave cannot saveSlap attorney seeks to ruin 
Be ready.hand to the suffering
Be pure.reach again to connect 
Saul became Pauldevout and caring
Light in your soul

Copyright 1/12/2017 Caroline Gerardo

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Homeless Moon

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Homeless Moon PoemNew moon pulls seeds burst
Son huddles under blue plastic tarp, calls it a condo.Teach him to watch clouds,hovering over sea is trouble.Cash acts a backpack pillow?
New moon pulls seeds burst
 Gold fall and green Faiche Stiabhna,whisper its nameTell him to write the recipehiding in a concrete crip.Was the message hidden? 
New moon pulls seeds burst
Passerby ignore homelessbrown under nails,smell like portapottySpeak mentor of roots,a silky sound dulcimer.Can you find empathy?
Crystal ball's blind if he gets off the street. Phases of moon encouragea child to grow and flourish. He's seven. Dark blots the light.
Caroline Gerardo copyright 1/1o/2017 

Speckled Stars

Rain brings challengesDrought took hundred year old oaks in low lands.
Weed starves meadowpadsMallow taproot gets her claws deep in the compost.
Steer avoid RussianthistleWindwitch (tumbleweed) bakes in ricotta cheesecake.
Hand pain farmingRose wax, jojoba, calendula ease cracking skin.
Planets dodge meteorsFilaree throws her seeds unwanted under stones.
Bones recall youthdewBurclover, pigweed, flea bane of the past.
Breathe treasure oxygenPrickle molecules of ancient lungs teach gardening.
Text message milkyway
Acronyms jumble instead be here holding me. 
Speckled Stars Poem
Caroline Gerardo 1/7/2016 Copyright all rights reserved images and poetry are mine
please share but give credit

Rise Up

Rise up
Bones of the daysleepless, no finger in dike rain returns they saynight fears bow childlike
Rise up 
morning requires workscoop the poopcount weight as a clerkno regime coop
Rise up
New Year awaitsface the regime iron prison gatessing of dreams
Rise up
sing loud, wave fistdon't let them takeall that you kissedlet them eat cake.
Caroline Gerardo 1/2/2017 All Copyrights Reserved

Meteor Shower Tonight

NEW YEARS Fireworks from Shattered Comet
Aeschyus' first tragedyconkers fall from the skywasn't a Persian waropening with crossbar
Quadrantid meteors are ancient anchorsAstronomers missed reveal dawn's mist
twilight tomorrow plasma gives bravonorth east ascendwarm with a friend
Pomegranate splaydawn becomes daytouch the starsfireflies in jars. 
1400 GMT on Tuesday, Jan. 3; that corresponds to 9 a.m. Eastern Time, 6 a.m. Pacific Time.  Get up early or stay up all night. I'm excited, where I live has no ambient light.Early the break of dawn, the radiant of this shower — the spot from which the meteors appear to emanate — will be ascending the dark northeastern sky.  meteor shower tonight - give or take a few hours around 5 AM Caroline Gerardo copyright January 2, 2016
 link:   display of Quadrantid meteors

Goodreads Book Reading Challenge

2016 I did the Goodreads Reading Challenge. It was fun to keep track of
200 books (well to record most of the books I read this year). There are about 30
I started but either lost under the nightstand, left out on the porch or couldn't struggle
through emotionally. Some books take a great deal of time - all year I worked on Roland
Barthes Empire of Signs. Sentences spun in my head as I weeded in the garden.
Other books were literary, poetry, thrillers, comic books, new releases for friends and
wild and crazy.

Here is list of books, I owe a few reviews, when will I have time?


https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/5010900/


I'm going to do the challenge again with same number count goal.
Writers should ALWAYS be reading, listening to spoken word readings and
writing. Long form, poems, short stories, notes, letters, handwritten and
online... Put on your writing hat, mask, costume, superstitious mask but
just write.

Caroline Gerardo
2016


TOTALS
200books44,337pages
SHORTEST BOOK12 pagesPeeling Back the Trees...by Erik AndersonLONGEST BOOK733 pagesThe Collected Storiesby Lydia Davis
AVERAGE LENGTH235 pages
MOST POPULAR480,801people also readAll the Light We Cannot Seeby Anthony Doerr LEAST POPULAR1person also readPeeling Back the Trees...by Erik Anderson
HIGHEST RATED ON GOODREADSStone Boatsby Elizabeth Taddonioit was amazing
5.00 averageMY 2016 BOOKS


it was amazing





it was amazing



it was amazing







really liked it



it was amazing







it was amazing





it was amazing

















it was amazing











it was amazing





it was amazing



it was amazing





it was amazing





it was amazing







it was amazing



it was amazing





really liked it







it was amazing





it was amazing










MISSING BOOKS?You can easily add books to this list by setting the Date Read for each book to any time in 2016.
See My Books shelved in 2016
You read 200 out of 199 books.101%
101%Congratulations! You're really good at reading, and probably a lot of other things, too!

New Year

New Year
We met on Match.com. I told friends we met in a dog park because I was afraid to be honest. Most fifty year old plus people on match aren’t looking for a relationship, they allow the sea of attention to fill a birdbath the size of the Pacific Ocean called a heart. No, that sounds bitter, there are nice people on there, I didn’t chat with them.
You know an adult relationship isn’t advancing when the other party fails to introduce you to their children or include you on holidays or is often sick at the last minute. Four years of caring wore on my boots, they have holes and leak now. New riding boots need softening. Step on summer rocks and frozen puddles makes the leather fit around your bad toes. The nail of the big toe becomes ingrown from repeated pounding. It’s not the climb uphill that breaks a soul, it’s the down curves where sliding on clay kills.
I know myself. It’s been a long time arriving. Butterfly lighting is a trick to make a portrait flattering. I recite poetry in the cabin, say the rosary to the cows bellowing on the hillside while I garden, and I no longer wear makeup on the weekends or spend money on packaged beauty products. Rose petals, lavender pods and organic herbs are in my secret creams.
Not caring started after I caught you cheating. Your stool was too close to her in the bar. She sent me nasty messages and hacked several places I frequent. You cried. Things were better for a moment, then returned to amusement park physics. Everyone told me to give it up. But I am no quitter.
When I lied to myself about the joy verses pain scale I decided your dip in dots were too expensive and I am cheap. I don’t feel better about myself, I know in the future this opens a place for a partner to come in who treasures me. Time doesn’t heal, don’t let them tell you that garbage. Our minds play tricks to create new wiring and life circuits are busy.
 I hold you in highest regard and wish you well.
This New Year is a start. Time for me to take care of myself.

Kindness Passes Lightening

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Kindness Passes LightningNoah works strong until the blitzArmageddon shrivels souls in bits
Dose palms of oxy pills hide the painSnowflakes shards melt on black coatWool recalls odor of a calf in the rainDreams become lost papers on a note.
Megiddo's a hill built upon graveskindness opportunity rushes silentlines in the highway flow in wavesholidays forgotten without hot riot.

Linear time wipes out the pastDrips wear the wonder of crustAroma of rising bread lost fastA lover's necklace turns to dust.
Witness death of your childsun on back, ash apatheticWhen nights thin mind wildbitter peel shrivels lethargic.
Prism reflects from the riverDaily battles keep from seeingall that matters is being a giverAll religions, good soul being.
Noah works strong until the blitzArmageddon shrivels souls in bits

Kindness passes lightening storms
Copyright 12/29/2016 Caroline Gerardopoetry and photographs all rights 

Holiday Cheer

Get rid of holiday bluesBe simpleBe kind

Make wreathspine branches, collect pine cones, eucalyptus, don't cut poison ivyToyon holly has no thorns real holly doescactus is gorgeous but succulents are easygreen and red plant material wire, hangers, gloves, fishing linebunches same as cooking raw spinach,shrinks down.
Spruce, juniper berry, marjoram, and pine essential oilsno diffuser?few drops on a decorative platewill cheer your soul
Hot soup - roast pumpkin cut in half (seeds removed skin on, flesh face up to moon) generous olive oil on the fleshsprinkle with cinnamon and nutmegbake until the flesh is carmel brownand the house smells yummyno pumpkin?use butternut squashfine chop onion and garlicportions not mentionedsaute in olive oil in big pot until clear and softadd stock, salt, pepper, add curry if you pleaseadd your roasted meat into the pot and simmer.Check and smash as it steamsTo put in bowls use a spoonof greek yogurtor go aheadadd heavy whipping cream Share with good bread





Woman stands waiting for her ridebrown bag covers white hair.Bag melts from the rain.Linda asks, "You need a ride?"No, she's waits for a friendInside the Pack and Ship storelights shine on bubble wrap.Linda enters, buzzer rings and she's on a camera overhead."May I ask a favor?" The man looks up from  a television show."No." he says."See the lady out front?""Yeah, she sent a package.""May she wait inside from the rain?He looks up queerly, "Sure, You know her?""No but thank you so kindly, really thank you."Linda returns out into the rain, shouting over noiseof traffic and splashing, "Come inside. I'll wait forout here your friend.""She might miss me?"Linda insists, the old woman explains the make and model of the driver's car.Windshield wipers of Linda's car keeptime with music on the radio. The woman now inside the store, with the man leans forward over the counter.They smile.


Rose waits in the mercado for the masa. Grandmother is gone, but she holds  the tradition of tamales for Christmas Eve. An opportunity to gather teenage children as a binding party before Christmas. Ten dozen tamales pork, chicken, and pineappleRecipe takes 120 ojas (cornhusks) and fifteen pounds prepared masa. Rather than mix cornmeal, shortening oil, baking powder, and salt byhand she orders premade dough. Braised and pulled meat steams at home. Daughter stirs the fillings and juices.

The mercado cannot locate the woman in front of Rosa's order. "Sold out, perhaps tomorrow after six, we'll have extra to sell."The woman ahead of Rosa looks down as if to cry."The bus doesn't run tomorrow, I planned to make thesetonight for my Bisabuela in the rest home with extras for nurses.""Sorry, tomorrow, next in line."Rosa interjects,"how many pounds do you need?""Five, it's okay I'll buy the dry ingredients and start right away, maybeI'll have them ready for lunch tomorrow."Cut a third off my order." Rosa says.

Get Christmas Lights

[image error] Get Christmas LightsGive hope now. Generator moansGirlfriend harassGood god where? Jesus wraps presentsGentle storage boxesGift me Target cratesGadflies of plastic fillsGreet strangers with joysGems of sapphire lightsGolly snap your negativesGlue of one day remainsGet galactic Grinch gone Gadgets waste of dollarsGreet every cell with smile

Caroline Gerardo Copyright 12/23/2016 poem and images