Chaotic Beauty

Fifty years is long enough
to pretend
that nature can be commanded.

My hair at least always knew,
resisting orders to stay straight.

My sweetheart knows
I’m something of a sister to a selkie,
with two worlds running in my veins.

Fifty years is too long
to go without embracing
the chaotic beauty of my colors.

It’s too long to deny
the stories that want to flow,
especially when I’ve found
someone who wants to listen to them.

Photo by Paula Campos on Unsplash

By Rommy Cortez-Driks

Song Choice: Caotica Belleza by Esteman ft Natalia Lafourcade A translation of the lyrics can be found here.

I Suck at Titles (An Apology)

Have you ever gone on vacation and relaxed so much that your brain disavows any responsibility for anything more complex than deciding on the best spot to curl up with a good book? I spent the last couple of weeks chilling first in Maine, then in New Hampshire.

View from the cabin overlooking the bay in Maine.

The view when you walk down the path from the bluff to the shore.

The porch swing at the B&B in New Hampshire.

So, I'm not great at coming up with titles most times. And you can see how it's easy to be distracted in such idyllic environments. When I hit publish for my last blog post, I saw that I hadn't been as clear as I would have liked to, The title especially added nothing to the piece. When I got back, I changed the title so my meaning would be evident. Just in case there's still a question, let me be perfectly clear.

I am pro-choice. The decision to overturn Roe v Wade has me gravely concerned. A friend of mine is already suffering. Even though they are not seeking an abortion, they are being denied medicine they need for their well-being (they suffer from rheumatoid arthritis) on the off-chance they might be pregnant at some point. Clarence Thomas has indicated this won't stop at Roe. The right to marriage, hell the right to privacy for my Darling Youngest, who fits several letters under the LGBTQ+ umbrella, is at risk. 

I presume Justice Thomas might leave interracial marriage intact, since that would affect him. But just because my straight passing marriage to my white husband is safe (I am a bisexual woman), and my 50 year old womb seems to be permanently retired from the business of baby making, that doesn't mean I will keep silent on this. I am disgusted by the continued machinations of the right wing in the US. It loves to brag how it embraces freedom and small government, even while its members cynically do everything they can to dig its tentacles deeper into people's lives. 

I am extremely embarrassed that my writing was not up to the task of expressing how I truly felt (that'll teach me to double-check things, even on vacation). So I'm sorry, dear Groovers, and will try to do better next time.    

By Rommy Cortez-Driks

Song Choice: You Don't Own Me covered by SayGrace featuring G-Eazy

Mid-Life (It's About Damn Time)

My crisis began
years ago, when I was made
into a topiary girl

with well concealed roots
false flowers in place
of where real ones used to grow.

There is no crisis
in finally showing
all my gnarls and bumps
and in owning the colors
that were always mine.

This is healing.

By Rommy Cortez-Driks

Song Choice: It's About Damn Time by Lizzo

Liner Notes for This Groove: This poem is linked to the Friday Writings post at Poets and Storytellers United.

Origin Story

My lips were chapped,
holding back
words I couldn’t know.

But it didn’t matter,
because my eyes still saw

that girl with a sword

who held the key to saving herself.

The heroine of the OG shojo anime, Princess Sapphire, aka Princess Knight.

By Rommy Cortez-Driks

Song Choice: Holding Out For A Hero covered by Emerald Sun

Liner Notes for This Groove: This poem was created for the Weekly Scribblings post at Poets and Storytellers United, Kid Stuff. I chose to write about the TV show that made me an anime fan. Aspects of it haven't aged well (oof, the dubbing... the dubbing) but little Rommy could not get enough of the swashbuckling princess. 

Bless

I bless every knuckle
bloody from beating the walls
caging me,

and every splinter earned
in repurposing wreckage,
so that my children might never know

this hollowness of being
unaware of yourself in the dark.

Photo by Sophie Louisnard on Unsplash

By Rommy Cortez-Driks

Song Choice: Dear Theodosia from Hamilton

Liner Notes for this Groove: This poem was created for the Weekly Scribblings prompt given at Poets and Storytellers United, Forward Movement.

Paris and Tokyo

I’ve never been to Paris
but I’ve dreamed

of her graceful curving
streets. I always wanted to explore,

those rues
filled with eye-teasing beauty
and promising something

to entertain my tongue
in its little shops.

But I have been to Tokyo
and—oh, 

how I adore him.

His electricity
knows how to delight me.

I come alive

discovering his many sides.  

Every sight makes me sigh
and long to take him in
as deeply as possible.

I only found out much later
I might have gone to Paris,
at least once.

But

it might have meant
I may never have seen Tokyo

and that thought breaks
my already partite heart.

Tokyo is home.
I have no regrets about that.

But there are nights
when I still think of Paris
and my settled self indulges
in an old dream or two.

Photo of the Tokyo Tower by Azizbek on Unsplash

By Rommy Cortez-Driks

Song Choices: Sakura, Sakura and La Vie En Rose

Liner Notes for this Groove: This poem was created for the Weekly Scribblings prompt at Poetry and Storytellers United. So I must confess, I've never really been to either city. 😂

Black Hollyhock

I remember when I first saw her.

I composed the hymn in my heart right away.

I can’t remember the other things

on display at the museum that day.

I only had eyes for that large dark flower

taking up most of the space in the composition.

I don’t recall the exact words I wrote later

but it was my first prayer of praise

for a goddess who taught me

how very beautiful 

and worthy of admiration

darkness can be.

Liner Notes for This Groove: In high school we had a trip to the Met in NYC, which is where I first saw Black Hollyhock and Blue Larkspur by Georgia O'Keeffe. I bought a print and wrote my first 'for fun' (as opposed to 'for homework') poem when I got home. I remember that I wrote it in the form of a prayer (I think I was inspired St. Francis's Canticle of the Sun) and that I liked it well enough to submit to my high school's literary magazine. And they accepted it! I think it was the first time it crossed my mind that I might enjoy this writing business.

Song Choice: Who Says by Selena Gomez & The Scene

By Rommy Cortez-Driks

Saved By Found Words: Blogging Around with Rommy Week 23

This weekend I was lucky enough to attend a local Pride festival. It was a smallish one, but still very lively. Of course, even a small Pride Festival attracts a certain type of pest.

No, he’s not the pest. He’s awesome

You know the type. The knowledge that someone, somewhere is living a perfectly happy life (that has nothing to do with their lives) drives them insane. So they are compelled to grab a microphone and start babbling about Certain Doom. Somehow they always work in the word “love” but their idea of it sounds about as appealing as Goblin Tea.

“Goblin tea resembles a nice cup of Earl Grey in much the same way that a catfish resembles the common tabby. They share a name, but one is a nice thing to curl up with on a rainy afternoon, and the other is found in the muck at the bottom of polluted rivers and has bits of debris sticking to it.”

― T. Kingfisher

Seriously, their version of love seemed pretty toxic and emotionally abusive to me. It also sounded quite annoying as they were rather loud at times. The friendly Bee Guy had things well in hand, leading the crowd in cheers, keeping things light and funny, and occasionally doing a little preaching on his own about a far healthier sounding idea of love. However in the middle of the hullabaloo, one of the pests managed to press a tract into my hand. When I realized what it was, I was disgusted. Then I asked myself, what would the Bee Guy do? The result is my latest bit of found poetry.

Love who you are.

No ancient abomination

can obligate sin into hearts

rejoicing in identity.

Discern and learn…

ALL consensual love is allowed.

So they really did manage to save me…save me some trouble in finding words for this week’s poem and Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads' Tuesday Platform. 

Did you do anything fun last week Groovers? Talk to me about it in the comments. As always, if you want to continue the convo on your blog, drop your link in there too.

Song Choice: I wanted to pick a less well known LGBTQ+ anthem. Closer by Tegan and Sarah really captures the upbeat feel of the day, plus it’s a super cute video featuring all sorts of couples being adorable. Dare you not to dance.

By Rommy Cortez-Driks

Unashamed

Fate sometimes blows a seed into an inhospitable garden. The balance of sun and shade might be off, or it might be shunned as a weed in a carefully curated bed. But sympathetic eyes understand what it needs to thrive. Watch how stunted plants unashamedly flaunt their colors once they are shown some love.


Unfriendly soil chokes
leaves curious for their own
suppressed flowers. Hurt
flees at loving caresses
when blooms believe in their worth.

Song Choice:  Make Me Feel by Janelle Monae

This poem was inspired by the song/ video mentioned above and is linked to The Tuesday Platform at Imaginary Gardens With Real Toads and Poetry Pantry 394 at Poets United.

By Rommy Cortez-Driks

Both

Oh?

The old question is it?

My answer is, never make me choose my bliss.

My lips will love as they will,

and their will is not one I shall deny.

Will it be a smooth refined taste

that may tease me with florals?

Will it be a strong intense note

that caresses my mouth?

Shall we play dress up

with cream and sugar?

Or go bare

with nothing to separate us?

Decide on just one?

No, thank you.

By Rommy Cortez-Driks

Image used with kind permission of the artist 

Coffee and Tea Variations 2 by Susan Farrington

Visit her webpage and her etsy shop to see more of her work.

Song Choice: Well I have to have two don't I? They are Everything Stops for Tea by Professor Elemental and Proper Cup of Coffee by Trout Fishing in the USA
This poem was created from a prompt offered by Magaly Guerrero for NaPoWriMo (Day 18: Tea or Coffee?)