7.11

I’m celebrating my birthday with my family out in the country when I get a newsbreak about a string of robberies at various 7/11 convenience stores in southern Cali that result in multiple deaths and widespread chain closure. For some reason I feel it’s my fault, even though I would never dirty my hands with such actions.
I move on with my day anyway. Mom takes grandma, my husband, daughter and myself out for Mexican food for lunch. Then later, after my brother gets off work, we all head out to my brother and his partners farm so the kid can have her first legit horseback ride. The horse Rambler is a beautiful white sweetheart, and he treats my lady with care as she walks him around the grounds, she absolutely radiates happiness and I’m so grateful that my family was able to facilitate this experience for her, and having the day turn out so beautifully somewhat eases my existential dread that everything is my fault.

Mark

In the deep waters of my mind,

I miss the brazen talk, and

The polished, insult to injury humor.

I miss the long stares hiding small grimaces

And laugh lines skewed by stoic gazes.

I miss the parenting that I didn’t ask for

That helped me solve mystic puzzles.

I miss the teaching, the off beat humor, the quick witticisms

And gentle guidance.

Mostly tonight although he would probably never believe it,

I miss Mark.

July 5,2022

After spending the bulk of the day removing furniture and carpet from the bedroom, at 3 I’m able to extricate myself to get an early start towards my birthday tattoo.

The girl I was visiting I’d actually been drawn to her prints early on, I had even purchased one for our friends wedding a few years back. Now I get to meet her in person over a different medium in her studio of residence at Mashroom.

The space is very open, once you finally find it anyway. Some wild murals decorate the space with various can do quotes. And as I walk in a small pixie girl younger than me ,wearing an Iron Maiden shirt and long skirt immediately greets me. She compliments the chameleon on my left shoulder before handing me the paperwork to get started. We discuss the Stranger Things finale, and she tells me her theory on Eddie, based on her experiences with D&D when a character fiting his description dies by bats but returns as a vampire to Slay the dark wizard later on. I admit though I find Eddie charming I felt the role as more of a dark mirror. As my 17 year old self that was dating the 23 year old metal head navy vet that played in pharma just because I thought he was charming and had a good voice. I felt the space of Chrissy a bit differently but I tell her I enjoy her version better.
Unlike my other guy, this lady is a silent worker. She puts on Stephen Kings It for her audiobook of choice on earbuds while I listen to the pop playing in the background and the various studio conversations.

There’s some nervousness when a man shows up at the door that they don’t recognize, but he’s just lost.
The girls bring up one of their coworkers quite a bit who sat for a six hour session yesterday and was fine until after hour 5 when she started asperating and later threw up . They talk about the handfuls of clients that cancelled last minute recently , another girl is talking about how she wants to set up her spider web.

My lady works on my forearm for about an hour and a half before revealing a lovely little mushroom with some kodama buddies from Spirited Away around it.

As we’re chatting before I depart, I show her a picture of my back piece and she calls over the lady that’s been training her to show here. I get a brief interrogation on the time that it took total, the number of sessions, and how long I sat. My longest sitting for that one was 5 hours just for the outline.

After they’re done asking about my other artist, I exchange payment for services. For me, this was a great deal, her flash for 175 and I knew ahead of time she’d perform quality work, plus it just felt like a good season to play around with some fungis.

Don’t Look Back

A futile text exchange occurs.

I used to need concrete evidence

To dispell the rumors in my brain.

You stocked all the evidence in shelfs

And I went through each bin six hundred thousand times

Only to want more proof, more candid examples

More overarching themes.

But one day, my lips quivered and my heart plummeted

And I saw my truth shatter around me and awaken

A sad little girl.

Now that sad girl is just thankful

To have been blessed with good friends and

Staggering and sometimes hurtful

Proof.

Now that small girl closes the door.

Now she doesn’t look back.

Chaotic Storms

Tonight was full of fistfuls of difficult, sullen, and hard to swallow conversations.

The dance doesn’t involve tip toes like it usually does.

Instead it is comprised of two alcohol infused lovers prancing into the ballroom

Majestically arguing while sashaying to a Donna Summer track.

The thought makes the lines of my face wrinkle from laughter

But does not seem to help the sore from forming on my tongue..

If we were a dance, we’d be the most tumultuous kind,

Full of changing of partners, nights where the kisses weren’t so sweet and

The laugh track and applause from the audience were on almost silent.

You tell me your broken promises and the mantras you’ve lived by.

You tell me “you are very loved”

“I feel too fucked up to feel anything,” I summarize, not noting its not just the alcohol.

Two hours later we are rinsing our truths and laughing comfortably, piled on the bed

Tangled up in the blue.

I tell you my wishes to depart.

You comfort me and mumble “hang on love.”

We slumber in our chaos,

Unraveling together.

Unwilling

I blamed it on timing, parallel worlds, distant stars

And the difficulty from rivers to unpaved roads to you.

I came up with every theory and every metaphor

Blaming it on being a prisoner of my own secret garden

Calling our timing different seasons

And asking you to forget about the Old World and enter the New.

I idolized you until my heart bled dry

Then I recognized your flaws and what I hated most about you

And the scar tissue grew and I loved you even more.

I showed up every day through rainy weather and turbulent “may days”

To reach you and every day you chose to whistle

Another tune for a brave new start with someone else.

And in the end all I can do is stare at a mirror and state

“It’s all your fault.”

You could never admit you cared.

And I tried more than you ever did and I can live with that.

Can you?

July 5,2022

After spending the bulk of the day removing furniture and carpet from the bedroom, at 3 I’m able to extricate myself to get an early start towards my birthday tattoo.

The girl I was visiting I’d actually been drawn to her prints early on, I had even purchased one for our friends wedding a few years back. Now I get to meet her in person over a different medium in her studio of residence at Mashroom.

The space is very open, once you finally find it anyway. Some wild murals decorate the space with various can do quotes. And as I walk in a small pixie girl younger than me ,wearing an Iron Maiden shirt and long skirt immediately greets me. She compliments the chameleon on my left shoulder before handing me the paperwork to get started. We discuss the Stranger Things finale, and she tells me her theory on Eddie, based on her experiences with D&D when a character fiting his description dies by bats but returns as a vampire to Slay the dark wizard later on. I admit though I find Eddie charming I felt the role as more of a dark mirror. As my 17 year old self that was dating the 23 year old metal head navy vet that played in pharma just because I thought he was charming and had a good voice. I felt the space of Chrissy a bit differently but I tell her I enjoy her version better.
Unlike my other guy, this lady is a silent worker. She puts on Stephen Kings It for her audiobook of choice on earbuds while I listen to the pop playing in the background and the various studio conversations.

There’s some nervousness when a man shows up at the door that they don’t recognize, but he’s just lost.
The girls bring up one of their coworkers quite a bit who sat for a six hour session yesterday and was fine until after hour 5 when she started asperating and later threw up . They talk about the handfuls of clients that cancelled last minute recently , another girl is talking about how she wants to set up her spider web.

My lady works on my forearm for about an hour and a half before revealing a lovely little mushroom with some kodama buddies from Spirited Away around it.

As we’re chatting before I depart, I show her a picture of my back piece and she calls over the lady that’s been training her to show here. I get a brief interrogation on the time that it took total, the number of sessions, and how long I sat. My longest sitting for that one was 5 hours just for the outline.

After they’re done asking about my other artist, I exchange payment for services. For me, this was a great deal, her flash for 175 and I knew ahead of time she’d perform quality work, plus it just felt like a good season for this piece.