SunnySide UP February 2021 from Maya and ... The birds move so silently in the rain They circle above me And i wonder if I Am already dead But everything moves so green And wet I escape through the dry tongue of the creek bed Sleep soft while they Circle Circle Until I can hear their wing beat hungry t he dust particles spin like dancers and make us sneeze. I’m sorry I took the last allergy med, But I really needed it. Not as much as I need you though, So here’s one to keep just in case, I’ll make the case that a med for a med Makes us even. I’m not sure if this is a poem or an apology But maybe when you swallow the pill you’ll let me know, Maybe all my apologies can be poems, And all my poems can be apologies, Or stolen pills returned. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! She worked at the moldy record store on the corner to listen to jazz. today it’s Ella Fitzgerald She imagines the smell of Ella’s house it smells like a merry-go-round in Central Park, painted ponies lit up, glowing golden certainty . the smell of lilacs growing wild a soft clear ocean, two girls kissing. The palm trees make bicycles outside and the entire street is covered in fleshy flowers swinging to the wind to the hazy jazz in tandem, the sky looks threateningly pink. she walks home and still she thinks of Ella, drizzling honeyed notes in her oolong. Ella Fitzgerald steams staccato from the master bath and her voice echoes off the tiles, the tub is full of silk, women’s underwear it’s how she relaxes, she tells his toothpaste on the bathroom counter before she goes to bed. Ella’s skin is milky brown is rose petals is candied orange peels is molten In her bed, Ella twists her lips toward her to sing and kiss birdcalls and stars fall on Alabama ... ... Which one are you? What do you do when your plane lands? 1. Immediately stand up and lean over other people. 2. Sigh impatiently 3. I’ve never been on a plane. 4. Take off your seatbelt even though the seatbelt sign is on. 5. Check the seat pocket for items and clean up your seat. 6. Patiently wait in your seat with your seatbelt on until everyone else has left. How many songs are on your favorite playlist? 1. I don’t listen to music 2. 13 3. 5000 4. Only analog 5. 69 6. Everchanging additions make it impossible to calibrate What would you go to jail for? 1. Genocide 2. Tax Fraud 3. Public Nudity 4. Peaceful Protest 5. Eco terrorism 6. murder Choose whichever number fits you BEST and add up your totals as you go! When someone calls you by a wrong name you 1. Correct them harshly and loudly 2. Call them by an incorrect name 3. Subtly correct them 4. Storm away 5. Slap them silly 6. Stay silent and feel sad 7. Think about it for the rest of your life My favorite animal is a(n) 1. One i can eat 2. Mythical creature 3. Carnivore 4. Omnivore 5. Herbivore What would you name your first born son (must choose one) 1. Chad 2. Porkthaniel 3. Gregthany 4. dug 5. Guglielmo 6. Monster When you go over to someone’s house for dinner you 1. I don’t get invited to people’s houses 2. Provide company and excitement 3. Bring flowers or wine 4. Help cook the meal 5. Bring flowers, cook a twelve course meal, do the dishes, tidy up their house, help do their taxes, clean their toilet, feed their dog Do you wear shoes in the house? 1. Yes 2. Sometimes 3. I run about barefoot 4. I have house shoes Where do you look when you have a conversation with someone 1. Only Boob 2. Face but also mostly boob 3. Feet 4. Left Eye 5. Face -only one glance at boob Did you like this quiz? 1. No 2. Kinda 3. Yes Add up your results! 10-14 The Gremlin 15-19 A melted ice cube 20-24 The Rumi-nator 25-29 The prickly pear 30-34 The dreamy romantic 35-39 Martini Twist 40-43 Pure sunshine 44-47 The teddy bear 48-53 Heavy Metal Harpist The Gremlin : Space shuttle Elon’s random car in space. The worst person you can think of. 10/10 would club a baby seal. Doesn’t recycle. A melted ice cube : Tried to be cool. Wasn’t. Composts for the street cred. The Rumi-nator : Falling fruit-- a little bit sad, a little bit hopeful; the slow return of spring, waiting waiting waiting for the fruit to rot and the seed to show; it will, but right now it’s just rotting. Bay nuts fall to the ground, they call out ‘bitter sweet bitter bitter’ as they fall. Thinks about global warming a LOT and feels like it’s mostly their fault. The Prickly Pear : The feeling you get when someone calls you by the wrong name and you correct them and say their name wrong on purpose. The brightest pink, covered in invisible thorns that stick in the fleshy part of your thumb. You should have worn gloves but the juicy fruit was just too tempting to wait. Says “bitch” a lot. Yells about global warming and big corporations. More about you: The Dreamy Romantic : A still life that keeps moving out of the corner of your eye, he catches the bloom and saves it for winter, makes a field of flowers in his room. your first date is a picnic in the park. She’s wearing white and smells like sunshine: it makes your head spin. she smiles and you feel like you swallowed the entire sun and it’s stuck in your throat. Your hand shakes as you try to catch a strand of her hair--a wild bird. Melting bliss in meadow kisses. She thinks it’s poetic that the ice caps are melting. A Martini Twist : A classic oldies song you've never heard before; one with a slight tongue twister that makes you feel full and empty at the same time, the way only mascarpone and whipped cream can. A wind singer, absolutely wild, possibly drunk on life or whiskey sours or something else. Takes off her top whenever she can. Always carries a water bottle but you’re never quite sure what liquid is in there. Pure sunshine : Dappled sunlight in constant motion; you finally managed to swallow the sun and now it sticks to everything else; like you just hung up a red hummingbird feeder and see 3 hummingbirds drinking the nectar you made on your stove; you took a sip just to see what it would feel like to have a heart that could beat that fast. Composts, recycles, volunteers for beach clean-ups. The teddy bear : A canyon with a river at the bottom. You just got a hug from your mom and your mom's mom and her mom's mom all at once while soaking in a big cup of chamomile. The feeling of finding your keys in the pocket of the pants you were wearing yesterday. Sorts recycle for every person they know. Heavy Metal Harpist : Like a magnolia flower picked in spring, then pickled in a mason jar with 47 kinds of peppers--eaten in winter, like a strand of pearls, like diving for abalone without equipment on a summer’s day with a little nippy breeze. Always has water and reminds you to hydrate. Writes the most beautiful poems and the most devastating insults. Drinks exactly one cup of pure black coffee per day, sometimes cries about polar bears.