hey jen,
it is great to get to see your work up again! i always love your drawings, and it's nice to see some of the old paintings too. i just read through your entries; having just returned from painting the landscape in normandy, it was amazing to find your musings on the impossible color upon going through my email. it's certainly been on my mind the last few weeks! ahh green.. anyway keep it up and let's get together already!
-sh.
 

A RED RUBBER HEART IS FALLING FROM THE SKY


a red rubber heart is falling from the sky,
smudged around its edges.
it is last year's heart.
its owner tossed it
from the top of mount norwottuck.
she wants to see
if it will bounce back up.
it falls, she squints
—it hits—
she gasps—
it splattered on the road!

she pauses on a rock
& sighs. of course.
it never was
a rubber heart,
but a plastic bag
of blood
that took the yellow bus
to school,
rode the ferry on
freezing nights,
and once fell in love
in a damp autumn town.
and when a certain
number of disappointments
accumulated,
the bag of blood
coagulated
and seemed to be, but was not,
rubber.
somehow,
in the past year, it must have
softened back to
plush platelets,
sweet liquid.

now, seeing the
tiny red splotch
on the road below,
its delighted owner
begins the long climb
down
to the stain that
loves
her.