Wednesday, February 12, 2020

A Poem Because Why Not

I normally reserve these pages for reflections on writing or my life, but today,
I decided to share a poem from my book, Scorpions for Breakfast, which was
released this week. I hope you enjoy it.




TRIPPING THROUGH THE GARDEN


We go tripping though life
Socks covered in thistles
Bug bites on exposed skin
Sun coming down
Heat coming up
Here comes the rain
Here comes the night
Here comes the snow
Tripping through another day
Every minute a trek
A lost moment
A dandelion
Pistils
Petals
Pedestrians
Petunias
Peonies
And we go tripping through the flowers
We romp through roses
We gather among gardenias
We hibernate in the hibiscus
We ogle at oleander
We trip through the garden
We snort the pollen
We eat the seeds
And kill the future of the garden
We let it rain and watch it grow
Lay in the sun and let it burn
We are the wicked gardeners
Tripping through sacred gardens
Sleeping on the lawn
Tripping on a blade of grass
Tripping after dawn
We are the landscapers
Cutting trees
Killing them to make them pretty
Beauty in death is the only beauty for those who kill
Tripping on beauty after dawn
Tripping on broken limbs
Of trees
Of men
Of women
Of children
Tripping on one another as we dash
To kill the trees
Tripping on the carcases of trees we killed
Tripping on roots
We wait for the flowers to bloom
We wait for the fruit to rot
We wait for the seed to sprout
We wait for the trip to begin
We wish for the trip to end
We are tripping through the garden
We are tripping through the world

We are tripping on each other







Adolfo Jimenez is an author, poet, and blogger. He has published eight books. He lives in Hollywood, Florida with his family.  He published four books in 2019, which you can find here.





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Wednesday, February 5, 2020

The New Guy

On Thanksgiving day 2019, I left my house, planning to go to the grocery store. We have a tradition in my house. My wife will always forget at least one ingredient for the feast and I will brave the wilds of the local Winn-Dixie to procure said ingredient.

As I went into the front yard, my daughter in tow, I saw a little dog in my yard. Alone. Long story short, we rescued him, tried to find the owner and couldn't so now he is part of the family. He was sick and underweight when we found him. He seems to have been abused and is suffering from trauma around food and being crowded. Sudden moves will startle him. The people who owned him were bastards. It's taken time and treasure, but Maximus Achilles Jimenez is close to being a normal dog. He's still a jerk sometimes, but so is everyone else.

Then, last Saturday, I got the news that a new dog was coming to join the family. His name is Mason. He is a Golden Retriever mix and outweighs Max the chiweenie by about 40 pounds. Max is under five pounds. Not a fair fight. Still, Max is pretty fearless and stands his ground, even if Mason swats him around like a rubber ball, in a friendly, brotherly way but still... it has to be hard on the little guy's ego.

These dogs are a distraction. They are a severe pain in the ass. And, please don't tell them, I love them very much.

Life is better with a dog. Of this, there is no doubt. I am actually allergic to dogs, but it's worth it. The happiness outweighs the itchiness. I can scratch.

The challenge for me is fitting the extra responsibility in with my work. I work at home and I need something near silence. It's hard to get that when I have two yelping madmen losing their minds every time a cat, duck, squirrel or pedestrian dares to walk past my house.

It's only been a few days so we're all getting used to a new routine. Soon, we'll be all right and when we are,  the fun will really start.



Adolfo Jimenez is an author, poet, and blogger. He has published eight books. He lives in Hollywood, Florida with his family.  He published four books in 2019, which you can find here.



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