The war continues...

The Diameter of the Bomb

The diameter of the bomb was thirty centimeters
and the diameter of its effective range about seven meters,
with four dead and eleven wounded.
And around these, in a larger circle
of pain and time, two hospitals are scattered
and one graveyard. But the young woman
who was buried in the city she came from,
at a distance of more than a hundred kilometers,
enlarges the circle considerably,
and the solitary man mourning her death
at the distant shores of a country far across the sea
includes the entire world in the circle.
And I won’t even mention the crying of orphans
that reaches up to the throne of God and
beyond, making
a circle with no end and no God.

by Yehuda Amichai

One more haiku, from the vault

I'll never forget how happy this wise little girl made me:

"fiend" tagged the school wall
but the girl playing tells me
"someone can't spell friend"

Winter

It's snowy here and very beautiful. In the most painful way possible. The high temperature today was 22. Tomorrow the high will be 10. Saturday and Sunday: 4 and 4. Monday: -4. NEGATIVE FOUR! THE HIGH TEMPERATURE! Ain't that some shit.

I remember New York in the winter:

New York Winter Haikus

Snow gray before ground
But flakes flutter to my eyes
Drawn delicately

Green, red, soft white lights
Miraculously open
Cemented windows

All snowmen skipped town
Singing soulful carols blind
Over frozen pee

A child’s mad mitten
Red-faced, with an absent hand
Slaps a snowpile back

NO SLEEP SINCE BROOKLYN

I lay awake, long after I get in bed, unable to sleep. Sleeping has never, ever, been an issue for me in the past. I would usually fall asleep within five minutes of listening to my pillow's secrets. But now... ever since my move it seems like I am bursting with nervous energy from 10 pm to 2 am. And sometimes later.

I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, which never used to happen. I have no trouble getting back to sleep, praise be.

Of course, it's not that I now need less sleep. I have a hell of a time getting up in the morning. My sheets and comforter come alive in the morning their tendrils conspiring against me, pinnning me to the mattress. And then I am just tired all day.

I've tried both types of sleepytime tea (and i mean both the real tea and the pseudonym).
I've tried whiskey.
I've tried, um, relaxing in other more private ways.
I've tried all the usual tricks.

None of it works.

My brother swears by some prescription drug called Ambien for long flights, but I want to avoid pills.

I suspect I need more exercise and less desk-sitting.

Any of you (all 4 of you who read) have good tricks for me to try?