4

4 were the ways

got us across the days

unscathed

4 were the winds

altogether kept us

centered

4 were the fires

could not be

extinguished

4 were the reaches

at the ends of

the earth

2 times

did i call out

to you

2 circles

overlapped

the birds 

upon the wire

they fell

took flight

and

the sky

the sky

the sky

water

yesterday. october 5

we rode on out to see the cousins down along the river road, into the delta and god was it beautiful, America on an autumn afternoon. we paid respects to your mom along the way. the sun would leave the cemetery sky red hot on its descent in the west. i never knew your father was an artist until you showed me his studio deep in the lot, behind the garage. there was a portrait of a beautiful woman on the easel, maybe the beloved in the beloved years? he is 94 now and lives with sofia the cavalier. they are pulling up the carpets now. the orange tree what with its lime hybrid is beginning to bear fruit. we shared baked beans and fried chicken and i listened to the story of his coming to this country, up from Mexico, hoping on some work and a couple hundred dollars to take home. a man convinced him to hop the freight train and go north, to Indio. from there they decided on Sacramento. the man got drunk one night and disappeared. that was three quarters of a century ago. old sacramento was a community of migrants. i wonder about the spirit and where does it go when somebody is no longer around?

4-5-6-7-8

the sun below ground at 4 o’clock

the sky could feel her

runnin in colors off a

glass



some kids got sent back to aisle 5 at the safeway

tryin to buy single coronas off a

six



i was searchin for my simple honeybee

bear and asked around. we found each other

in lucky no.7



across the street turned up 8 ounces

coffee. hot and fierce. not a bad start

for a day



not a bad start at all

stay present and you can handle

anything

goofy

I turned up the aisle with counterbalance of grocery baskets and indecision about toothpaste brands. I put my baskets down as you pushed a plush goofy into my hands which i figured you grabbed off a shelf. You told me you won it for me and pointed at those impossible machines, glass container full of toys and mechanical claw. I didn't believe you. But it was true!

lost to devices

cell phone city. 2019

eyes glossy and
zoned

smile like an upside
down sunset

we could not reach you
were lost to
devices

upside down sunset by katya

#wip

morning coffee and oatmeal, and the cool autumn air seeping through the screen to wake you up. today i will be out of the house from 8am-9pm. i have been sleeping well with the cool nights though my cats wake me up frequently but i'm used to it. my novella is in pretty good shape and hoping to send it out soon to some betas for a test read before i complete the next and possibly final draft. now that i have published 5 works under my name, i learned to stop forecasting the finishing, it almost always takes longer than i expected. the new novella has ZERO fantasy elements in it, as its grounded in turn of the century (millenium) action, circa 1999. this seems to be the time and place i gravitate towards. if i am ever to be known as an American author by a great many people, i can only hope they will appreciate my reflections of this era.

digital stitches

no more flying or driving we
leave it to the machines no
more surfing the oceans gone
plastic no more cash no more
paper we're all caught by the
web. no silence do not think
for yourself. creation is an
algorithm god is an intranet
dropping digital stitches ina
biodegradable post-colorful
world. amen.