Simplicity is

Simplicity is

a head covered with a white plastic bag
raindrops pit-patting in unpredictable rhythm
infiltrating the cuffs of my sleeve

a dark blue plate covered with striking white feta
more than morsels left behind
radiating a guilty ambivalence

a sidewalk covered with animal crackers
blue-lidded container atop a brick row
sitting humpty-dumpty style

my hands covered with wrinkles
the smell of dish soap
nestling between each fingerprint ridge

Simplicity is breathing,
knowing that in the moment comfort is finally achieved,
all this must be given up.

"Pach'un tzij" is a Kaqchikel noun phrase that refers to a braid of words--or a poem.  Learning languages outside of our own cultures offers us new ways of conceptualizing the world.

Today, I basked in appreciation for this phrase, short, sweet, and poignant.

PhD life seems to be about crafting the perfect braid.  And likely it is only perfect to its creator, and only for a moment, because she quickly goes bald as the process of scholarly criticism unravels and uproots her meticulously woven strands.

This blog is for a different type of writing: one that admits to inelegance, but strives for beauty in the mundane.  One that recognizes writing as ongoing, processual, and simultaneously nostalgic, full of foresight and unspoken understandings--perspectives that cross the conventional boundaries of time.

This is, above all, an effort to write in the tight embrace of imperfection.