because, a poem

“Clouds are on top for a reason. They float so high because they refuse to carry any burden!”  Jasleen Kaur Gumber,  Ginger and Honey

“On cloud nine (or seven) – extremely happy. [A reference to a ten-part classification of clouds in which ‘nine’ is next to the highest.]

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wind came through like an old bruja one night,
taking her broom to my cloud, scattering the seeds
of my poetry to all the four corners and the center
below where I do my shopping for earthly things,
down I went to try to gather them up only to

meet a philosopher peach who set me on my ear
with his questions on mind, matter and meaning,
wanting to know why he couldn’t taste himself
and how was it that I had a mouth that wouldn’t

in any trance, no matter the depth of it, be a
peach, pointing out to me how we needed one
another to get the job done and – Why?, he asked
and what could I say, having lived my life in the

clouds, drinking the vapors of trust and basic
instinct, and knowing tomorrow is today and
this day is perfect, and no matter the tears and
laughter, there’s a rightness to it all, so

on pale rimy breath, like the child I once was,
I answered him simply . . .
. . . ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,because

© 2019, Jamie Dedes

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A homebound writer, poet, and former columnist and associate editor of a regional employment newspaper, my work has been featured widely in print and digital publications including: Ramingo’s Porch, Vita Brevis Literature, Connotation Press, The Bar None Group, Salamander Cove, I Am Not a Silent Poet, The Compass Rose and California Woman. I run The Poet by Day, an info hub for poets and writers and am the founding/managing editor of The BeZine.

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“Every pair of eyes facing you has probably experienced something you could not endure.”  Lucille Clifton

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