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grand canyon

 

she shared some details

of the road trip with

the teen in a van

not too many intense

infraction type details

it was fill in the blanks

with too much thinking

heart wrenching imagination

like why would two people

in a van driving together

sharing inside secrets and

cheap road food not be

more than she said

playing a players game

of silence and selective

facts believable whether deceivable 

or not who could know


she met a native american guide

entering the great grand canyon

already ahead of her hiking

below the entertainer chevy chase

working up his best sweat

"losing weight for a part," he told her

he seemed nice she told me


she, so sun tanned

deeply in pain

followed the guide's instructions

scaling the canyon, seeking and

finding her peace on her own


in shorts and a shirt

a weight loss plan of her own

for that burn in her heart

immune from her lotions

medicines and potions

yet falling away as she scaled

deeper to release the one-hundred-and-ninety

pounds of disappointment


the guide set her free

with a nod for the tip

and when she returned

freedom felt better than the pain

sending her away again

without the boy

without me

free.




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Deep Thinker Thinking

  Deep Thinker Thinking, drawing by douglas Brent smith, December 2001, from Journal #35, Mission Control, Volume Two, 2001 - 2002. Drawing helps me think. Thinking, sometimes, draws me to draw. It amazes me how few adults draw at all. Somewhere along the line in childhood they just stopped.  We should all draw more and more often. Pencil, pen, crayon, whatever you've got. Instead of scrolling tonight, spend that time drawing a picture. Instead of wasting your time and feeling bad about it you've have a picture you can feel good about. It doesn't have to be great, it just has to be yours.

Lighter Than Air

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Creating on Illusion

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(c) douglas brent smith

Gears of Joy

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Back Inner Cover

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