A Dedication to Bloomington, Indiana and the Smith House
August 2007 – November 2008
Bloomington, IN…You are beautiful. You are my nearest sense of home.
I know your roads and your secrets. We share many memories. I have
come in and out of you like a tramp. This time, on Smith Avenue, it
was the climax of your blossom to date.
Oh, how magical it all was! Music, friends, laughter, connections,
love, growth, food, rooftops, bars, alleyways, high vibrations, games,
tomatoes, tall towers, bicycles, trees, Frisbees, front-porch
afternoons, hummingbirds, animals, love, green grass, lotus festival,
school bus ventures, wineries, bridges, flooded fields, backyard
pianos, sunflowers, and love.
Oh, Bloomington…
You are full of blossoms
You smell of delicate flowers
Your air is so sweet
You stand strong
Roots go deep
I find joy in your deep cool caves, your big waters, your beautiful
forest, your rolling hills, your backcountry cabins, your smiles, your
children, your exploding skies, your extravagant colors, your kind
souls, your eccentric seers, doers and melody makers.
I love you.
Your community is unique.
This is Uniquely Bloomington…
I came back after many months on the islands of Hawai’i. This time, I
wanted to stay for a long while. I was in no rush. This time, I was
to live again with David Watters, in a small home at 317 E. Smith
Avenue.
Oh, how this home has a piece of my heart in it!
I think back to all the brilliant, mad, extravagant and beautiful times
and for a moment regret that I never wrote. I was pulled by each
moment and there were so many! Here is what I remember…
Dumpster food, trash bags full of bagels, so many flowers!, travelers,
this is a hostel?, hookah tent, 3 anarchists, music, dancing in the
streets, I worked carpentry at three homes on the same block!, free
boxes, shoes on wires, gardens, oh, the community garden we started
exploded in beauty!, rooftop trips and star-gazing nights, sleeping in
caves, haunted trains, climbing rocks, swimming in lakes, crazy
friends, handshakes and hugs, sushi, bread and olive oil all winter, no
heat!, no water!, we lived it rough and we liked it, it was a crooked
house, but full of love, story times, stretching, hummingbirds, god,
the tomatoes and sunflowers were huge!, getting involved, making
change, community, tea, alcohol, jump to the garage, spraypaint!, I
fell in love, she moved in, I proposed, she said yes, the music never
stops and neither does Jeremy, Oh, I love that wild man, compost heaps,
gravel thieves, what happened to the telephone pole?, cosmic newspaper
articles, crumb and snakes and dogs, oh my, let’s all dress as bugs and
get high, friendly strangers, soon to be friends, bridges, connections,
it never ends, paints, riddles, poems, drums, guitars, couches here,
couches gone, how many people can live in such a small space?, coming
together, love and sharing, sometimes even something daring, there’s
always food and always cheer, piles of dishes, space-heaters and the
breakfast nook, local bars now and then, couch-surfers, lovers, we all
belong, don’t forget I love you all, bird sirens and mayors, movers and
shakers, Oh, how I miss you all, canoes, barefoot walks, a rare rainbow on my birthday,
I fell in love, farms, cabins, birds, 3rd street park, 20 tons of dirt, hammocks, Bill hated when
I went into the garage, flooded basement, exploding pipes, David’s face
when he got splattered, we all ate for free, thank you Joe for making
me see, brewing beer, Kombucha, mead and the rest, broken bathrooms,
the porch was the best, dog park, let’s take over the road, tattoos,
balloons, celebration, catching water, planting and growing ourselves
and others, firetower, lake Monroe, collecting cans, dumpster-diving,
Tulsi, singing, and manifestation of all things good.