Portland Recently

I think it began with those windy days and nights, everything shaking, and the shake-up continues. So much change in a month or so. Snow, fog, sun, and the gloom returning. Neva is beginning to outwit her disability by learning her first word - placing her small fingers on my own and making a sign for MORE. MORE everything – food, music, play and MORE understanding. Last time I worked with her I left her crying in her mother's arms because I couldn't understand what she needed. Meanwhile there was scandal and protest and everyone on either side wanting MORE attention. Seeing the christian with his bullhorn, I wish we all spoke in Neva's manner - silently, gently touching. The fog came and quieted nights in the SE, making basketball hoops into strange necklaces, figures into shadows. Glowing all over the neighborhood is a sign showing a woman with an ecstatic expression that should illustrate joy over savings on home loan rates. But look at her, the teeth, the nails, the wide eyes - she's a sign of wicked times. I call her the Mortgage Witch.