A long absence which has been populated
with brass snails and rusty nails,
wire hangers bent into swan-shapes,
tiny paper parasols, and wishes sold
the ace of diamonds, the ever-present
gaming table, bones and dice-
signs, wonders and beacons.
A proliferation of spiders-
I stay in my lighthouse
and watch the storms
tear the sky apart in
arcing currents and
fiery white strobes
on blackened clouds.
I saw a rainbow from my bedroom window:

I found three white
strands in my tangled locks-
oh me, such a crone I have become!
Days and days sunk in bastard amber,
the cicadas roar and pink mimosas tickle.
All the birds in shackles, and I wear
chrysocolla housed in silver over my wrists,
and sweat in heaps of snarling sheets
while the rain beats in the open window-
dreaming of knives and spoons,
of sharks and saints..
The horse that crieth among the trumpets Aha!

The beginning of summer is always heralded by the
shriek of insects in the trees, the heady explosions
of crepe myrtle and bougainvillea, bees buzzing in
banks of periwinkle plumbago, the air heavy as
a dead wet dog wrapped around your head.
To alleviate (and celebrate) this heady season,
it is advised that sno-balls are consumed
in mass quantities- preferably under the
most enormous oak tree that ever was.
Or the biggest one I ever climbed,
either or- but you must climb it
even if you are wearing a long dress.
And also eating black cherries is
of utmost importance.
Especially whilst sitting in the
center of a fairy ring of mushrooms
beneath said gigantor oak.

The two on the right have such distinct little smiles.
Can you see them as well?
It’s a superstition here to kick them all over-
at least it would seem that way..
Has anyone else noticed this?

As for the sno-balls,
I highly recommend The Sno-Wizard-
a veritable emporium of delightfully
sugar-soaked shaved ices.
The very best are:
Vanilla Orchid Cream
and
Tiger’s Blood.

As you can see, Mme. P. favors the Tiger’s Blood.

My friend the inimitable Mistah Jaybird (aka. Kid Twist) and meself.
He look a little funny in that one, so let’s do the man right-
Here you can see how sweet- this here’s a good friend o’ mine:

And the loveliest Mlle. Dana, arrived from the wilds-
soon to return to Aix-en-Provence on reconnaissance
missions to determine how we might construct our empire.
Her eyes are sparkly blue jewels.
She came bearing the sweetest gifts-
the most wished-for blue dress (with pockets!)
and Diptyque’s L’eau Trois parfum (I swoon!)
She filled the house with roses and curly willow
and Mariage Freres tea (White Elephant)
and inspirations and plans for our migration
out of this horrid country.
Tanglewood Industries will reign triumphant!

Here is Pandora posing in the roots..
she is one of my oldest and dearest-
I have known her since she was 10.
Now we have set up shack together
and she is howling at the framed
(though now obliterated) doctorate
some poor man toiled at-
so far the glass over it has
broken twice- drawn blood
multiple times and then
there was a wild frog perched upon it!
The Haunted Diploma
is wreaking havoc upon our household..

There was another lovely foray
to this self-same oak
documented by 
and featuring herr   also.
I think I will be venturing there
as often as possible in the
following weeks..
You can peek at the ghostliness
here –  tiny balopticon