arts & letters by mason j.

Cruisin in Califas

Still Here SF 5

17 REASONS WHY

 jasmine gently kisses my foggy forehead, bidding farewell as the moon does when she says goodnight.

My City blooms with flowers, blending in harmony with the songs of birds.

Wandering half a day away, I dance among ancient forest spirits, gathering tales and soil.

Swaying together under pluot and nectarine sunsets, as crows soar towards the ocean,

Sloped shoulders forming resting places for weary travelers.

Childish smiles infused with raspberry lime, to drown capitalism’s spritzed scoffs,

From mossy toes to hilly hips —San Pancho my sweetheart and I, like warm honey licked off wrists.

When sorrow drips, them and i seek the tenderness that seeks us,

It springs from our spirits in flashes of flamboyant purple electricity or golden threads

Traversing space, embracing the magnetic power of devotion.

Affectional Alchemy, one might say discovering new ways 

Alive and breathing, distinct from our ancestors.

Stubborn they call us, but that's the essence of a household,

Annoying parents, fun uncles, wealthy aunts, and immature siblings,

Dysfunctional, hilarious, ride or die, and clever.

Power flows through words exchanged at the dinner table,

Refrigerator notes concealing secrets of sweetening corn on the cob

By rolling it on warm, buttered rolls.

We persist and adapt as the world shifts,

Offering tender gestures for transformation.

Joyriding our cosmic minivan, seats and cupholders for everyone,

Down the binary highway, challenging every law,

Red carding racist and transphobic sports leagues,

Resetting systems, weaving words of opportunity.

Our knowledge is sacred, solar-generated and lunar dreamed,

Doctrine and technique in the hands of men,

Love and harmony in the hearts of women,

Non-binary and two-spirit folks like me, a blended or subtracted triangle.

Embrace and elevate,

Forge intergenerational connections,

Create beloved homes.

Despite the bigots' words,

Memories hidden under shimmering skin's lore.

Take these seeds, inquire within, "tengo demandas" as we say in Ladino

Observe the journey of the pomegranate, as it passes through your hands today.

The end of empire beckons us to reckon, equalize , and relax,

Health, pandemics, safeguarding our kin, our holy mission to unwrap.

Devotion's gifts unfurl, exciting and unknown,

The past whispers in our hearts, its echoes softly shown.

In our mouths and guts, the past resides,

Yet other places too, where it secretly abides.

Non-binary souls, by music defined.

Jewish mystique in the empire's decline,

Herbalists of love, their essences aligning.

Femininity blooms in whispers of song,

Notes of rebellion where empires go wrong.

In the city's embrace, love finds its art,

Two mystics converge, a symphonic heart.

Kabbalistic dance, the mystical tune,

Binding their spirits, an alchemical swoon.

Herbs weave a tapestry, fragrant and wise,

Love's elixir brewed as the empire dies

Our bodies, flickering notes, compose a duet,

In the age of decay, a lovers moonlit silhouette.

 foggy morning whispers, the ocean an enchanted scroll, 

Blooms of time, a dance in gentle swirls.

Your sweetness, a bloom by the ocean's side,

A fragrant tide, where emotions abide.

In vulnerability, a sea of trust,

Waves that cradle, emotions robust.

As healing whispers through the ebb and flow,

You, my sanctuary, where true feelings grow.

Your essence, a garden of grace,

Blossoms of understanding embrace.

As petals flutter, and waves softly kiss,

I've missed my Haikus

I.

Amid our healing hop,

forbearance, warm and tender,

thankful souls whisper.

II.

In this vulnerability,

A symphony unfolds,

Sweetness, my solace.

III.

Compassion's embrace,

Romance moves in gentle hues,