happy 35

for jj

celebrating 35 years
of grueling
perfection

welcoming blessed heaven
down to greedy
earth

tending the garden
of soul
barefoot &
limping

what is love?
paste-up through
the night with exhausted
eyes

what is reality?
unpaid printers’ bills––
rent coming due
without fail

who can lawfully hitch
the word, unconditional,
to love––
who has willingly
sacrificed
the meat of her
heart to feed her orphan
children––
good, true, beautiful &
hope?

you have done
so much so much
for what you
believe
(what we all should
believe)

you teach us
kindness

you are our
glittering poetry angel––

our mother teresa
of the (almost) disinherited
word