can we go for a ride?
can we?
can we"
huh? canwecanwecanwecanwe?
puleeeeeeeeze?
please can we?
huh?
huh........
wait....did you say yes?
seriously?
okay, i'm ready now.
now.
now.
NOW!
come ON already.
you don't mind that i step on your head so i can see EVERYthing now do you?
no?
okay, that's good.

ooops.
drooled on you.
sorry.

back already?
gosh that was fun.
funfunfunfunfun!
that was SO fun!

so.....
can we go for a ride?
huh?
canwecanwecanwecanwe?
puhleeeeeeeze?



when i was young,
absolutely no one i ever knew or met was named dawn.
and i hated my name.
i would ask my parents why on earth they ever named me dawn?
i learned my father was the culprit.
he named me after a belly dancer.

hmmm.

but as i've gotten older,
i've begun to embrace my name.
i guess you could say that i've grown into my name.
and sometimes it can be pretty fun.
recently, i was just thinking of all the fun things i could do with
the word dawn.
that i could actually interchange dawn with myself.
and all the things that i can do, be or describe.
like:

the me of a new day
the break of me
the crack of me
it me'd on me
me of the dead
the me of reasoning
the me of a new age
the me of a new era
the me of a modern age

and finally,
me. i cut the grease out.

not such a bad name afterall.
even if it did come from a bellydancer.

i'm not dead yet



i'm very nearly dead, but i'm not dead yet.
i didn't go on a vacation.
nor did i have any catastrophes in my life
or get eaten by a bear.
i didn't get kidnapped or
win the lottery.
i didn't tumble down the hole and have a fantastic adventure.
i didn't break any bones
or have any traumas
i didn't float away on a balloon
or get lost at sea.
no.
i
just
haven't
been
here.
i've been everywhere else,
but not here.
and i apologize.
because i have been quite slack.
majorly slack.
i get an A+ in the class of slack.
not that i've been slack in other areas of my life.
because i haven't.
and let's face it, we're all busy for gawd's sakes.
so i just don't even go there. naw, just plain not making this a priority. let's be honest. the photography thing and the life thing? they're taking my time. and as much as i enjoy this space, i do tend to take it for granted.
like now.
so that's it.
nothing earth shattering.
nothing that you can forgive me for.
just me.
being me.
not dead yet.



i want to laugh more heartily
when my world gets too serious.

i want to sleep more soundly
when my world gets tiring.

i want to think more logically
when my world seems chaotic.

i want to live life larger
when my world gets too small.

i want to reach out more often
when i feel i don't have anything left to give.



as i walk down the street
all the dogs
line up in their yards
to comment on my passing by
they run from one end of their fenced existence
to the other.

the sentries of suburbia



tell me
how far does the sky reach?
do you think that clouds ever feel competition with the sky?
maybe they show off just a bit at times?
for they know they can't compete with sky's limitless reach
to me though, they make up for it
with their dramatic allure.



bubbles....
i see your beauty floating everywhere.
you float around me like pixie dust.
if only for a fleeting moment...
i never want to see you go.
can't you just stay a little longer?



what's mine is mine.
what's yours is mine too.
so just hand over the tickle me elmo and no one gets hurt.

things that i currently own but would like to sell:



1. 10 pounds
2. free floating anxiety
3. debt ( i'm thinking of having a fire sale on this one)
4. many socks with no mates
5. furniture that the dogs have peed on on a regular basis
5. ants in my kitchen
6. weeds
7. ink pens that don't work
8. makeup bought compulsively on a whim that should really be in the halloween costume store
9. self-help books (i'm beyond help at this point)

if you're interested, please email me and we'll work out a deal.

have a great monday.



dear little dog,

you make me laugh.
when i wonder about the day, you assure me that it's a good one.
your enthusiasm is contagious.
you don't realize that.
that's the beauty about you.
my friend sharon says that life is always better when it's lived with animals.
i agree.
thank you molly dodd.
my life is better with you in it.

love,
d

people



i was shopping at trader joe's the other day and i was shucking some corn at the box that they provide for you, looking around at all the people buying their treats.
my eyes found a woman standing at the strawberries.
she had been standing at the strawberries for a long time.
i watched her method of madness as she went on a search and destroy mission through every single container of strawberries.
she opened each box
she rifled through each strawberry in each box.
picking them up,
smelling them.
then placing them back in the box.
a couple of strawberries dropped out and rolled across the floor.
she picked them up and placed them back into the container.
she finally settled on one box and left.
so i found a clerk and let her know that every one of their strawberries had been handled and sniffed.
she looked at me with a defeated look and said, "yes, it happens a lot...there's not a whole lot we can do about it. they get so mad when you say something to them about it." she went over to the strawberries and began to sort through them..clearing them out.

kinda makes me look a little differently at my produce these days.



merry-go-rounds are not the most exciting rides.
with their around and around and up and down
in a tiresome, predictable way.
but they're beautiful in their own right.
a little freakish
a little garrish..
with their screaming bright colors and animals with manic expressions
imploring you to ride on them
they do the best they can within the confines of their poles.
a certain bizarre beauty.




sometimes i wonder if i can only think in terms of lists.
short.
simple.
to the point.
my brain it seems is always on overload.
too much is crowding in all the time.
leaving me inert.
i'm reluctantto talk to you on the phone.
i fear i wouldn't be able to focus.
and then i'd be lost in the conversation.
and you'd know i wasn't paying attention.
not because i don't love you, but because i'm simply overwhelmed.
over.
whelmed.
so just send me a text.
txt.

xo

one day


i will skip instead of walk
i will yank out every automated answering machine i can find
i will wear nothing but orange
i will remember to smile more
i will paint my toenails rainbow stripes
i will think before i speak
i will wear an un-ironed shirt
i will be unpredictable
i will order only desserts at every meal
i will not care what anybody else thinks
i will throw my cell phone into the ocean
i will ride in a helicopter
i will live without trying

one day.
i will.