American tourist in America thinks about consistency. God's consistency. Her own inconsistency.

1. Her heart as metaphor for feelings is inconsistent.
2. Her attention to news media is inconsistent.

3. News media is inconsistent. She don't remember so much negative coverage of W. Bush as Obama. Maybe she didn't want TV when W. was president. Maybe she didn't notice the negative coverage of the then president because she agreed and thought it was simply common sense.

4. What are the things I do consistently?, she wonders.
-go to class or to work.

5. Dreams are not consistently. But they consistently surprise. Is that a sort of constancy.

6. She dreamt of waking up and going to the kitchen because D. was there. In her dream she is tired, she keeps getting in D.'s way. Orange juice spilled. Dishes dropped. I just want some water she says, but in fact, the reason she came to the kitchen was to see D. She had been worried. The cat has 5 bags of treats by his bowl. A sound sounds outside, and when A. looks out the window, she sees 5 cars, chewed up and broken, skidding toward the house. J. is in the garage and A worries for his safety. I knew something bad was going to happen, A starts to say, under her breath, but then thinks better of it. No one is hurt, simply the cars are folded up and inside out.

Haiti

A Look at the History of Haiti and its International Community

The reporter climbed the rubble, with a microphone.
The cameraman followed. The Haitians called back
And forth in a language, I could not understand, but still
I knew they were arguing. The reporter spoke into
The microphone as he looked at me. Into my television.
Into my living room. I am sitting on the couch. He then
Held the Interpreter of Sound down to the cement
The cameraman angled down. A girl’s tennis shoes.
And she is screaming. Boom and Echo. Screaming.
Only vowels. The vowels of all language. I held my
Breath for her, I held the remote control in my hand.
I could volume her voice until it filled my house and
Wake my roommates but the boulders of buildings
Do not move. Do we turn away to give privacy
In a moment that could be her rebirth or burial?
The cameraman panned up to her brother, blinking free
Against the blue sky, looking away from me. And I do not
Know if she was rescued. Or if the TV station replays
Her captive screams. And for one moment I sense what
we have in common, a breath in our lungs, our hands
clasped, a history book full of regret. I have buried this
girl in 200 words and she screams in every vowel.

The Last Day of 26

At the beginning of each year I spend a few days the age i was for the most part of the previous year. Tomorrow I will be older than I have ever been before. I can say that truthfully of any day, but tomorrow feels different. I am going to be officially 27 years old. 3 years shy of 30. ten year high school reunion around the corner. (I do not intend to attend any reunion, but just knowing that it could be planned is weird.)

I should make a list of 26 things that are true today.

1. my toes are cold.
2. my hair is curly. I washed it today.
3. I never thought I would live in the midwest, but I do.
4. there is snow outside.
5. leather is probably better than synthetic leather for me. and maybe the cow.
6. if i drink too much coffee i get a stomach ache.
7. i like to dance but i am not good at it.
8. i want to live a life out-of-the-ordinary.
9. i want a plant to live on my desk this year, to love and to water.
10. i prefer windows that get a lot of light, curtains that are open or see-through.
11. Elvis was born today, 1935.
12. I have always been under the impression that Gypsy Rose Lee (burlesque entertainer) shared a birthday with me, however wikipedia says Jan 8 like elvis, and IMDB says feb. 9. I no longer know what to believe.
13. some one is making me lunch today.
14. I am stuck on 14 and reading about Gypsy Rose Lee's life.
15. Sometimes I wonder what adventure means, and if it always must include climbing fences.
16. I wore three pairs of socks yesterday and plan the same for today.
17. I have been away from Indiana for almost a month and I miss it.
18. I also miss by bed.
19. At nineteen I was in college, undergrad.
20. Chicago has cute apartments.
21. I haven't written poetry in a looong time.
22. One of my 2010 goals is to go to Louisville KY
23. I like tea. Black tea, green tea, Rooibos.
24. I don't like dogs or cats in general. I like certain few dogs I have met and a certain few cats.
25. I hope good things for many people.
26. 27 isn't old!