I finally came across a copy of the KQED Perspective I did in 2007. I had taken a class of how to write and present a topic for this well-known radio format and was thrilled when my offering was accepted. I recorded it at the KQED studios in San Francisco. It is no longer in their archives, so I was excited to find a copy in my own files. For all you single folk out there…enjoy!
water licks the quay
tasting concrete not sand
determined to find welcome
one wave, fraught with foamy fervor
demands attention and
ebbs reluctantly
another, hardly noticed
crawls away defeated
never-ending swells
rise from the depths of a bay
crisscrossed with struts and steel
bound on three sides by
tacky tourist traps
soul-less mansions
waves of tears from decades past
emerging from an immigrant isle
less angelic than its name
salt-tinged waves seep under a golden bridge
entering these protected waters
with no identity except hope
now doomed to lick and find
no nourishment
never able to rise above the jutting wall of
sharp-edged boulders
positioned to keep them in their place
beneath
below
yet still they come
with relentless repetition
fueled by courage that defies reason
seeking what they do not have
maybe I need an oil change
clean out that gunk that’s mucking up my life
remove the sludge that slows my engine
saps my get up and go
drain out the sludge
pour in new ideas
so I can run more smoothly
head in new directions
explore new horizons
while I’m at it
rotate those old thoughts
don’t let them wear me down
in the same sore places
keep them from making me miserable
in the same old way
endangering my life as I drive through life
I don’t need a whole new me
just a daily tune up
every 6000 minutes or sooner
write
listen
pray
if I take good care of me
I could last a lifetime
satisfaction guaranteed
Dr. Karen Stephen aka Doc Flamingo 