By Amy Simone Piller
Look up there are sills that somebody carved
there are balloons leaving somebody’s arms
look up there’s a tall man looking back down
there’s a sneaker hanging up upside-down
look up there’s a billboard with something to say
look up there’s a cloud floating away
look up there’s still hope that you might collide
with other bits of energy under this sky
look [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
HR people are never popular
someone must do the must like things
How many must people make a must day go on
and would the must days go away if they did?
Would it be better or worse then?
More than must or less and lost?
By Amy Simone Piller
Please work better
like everything else
I never meant to neglect you.
Among many other things we are rated on
metabolism fast or slow.
Break down here
comes in many forms
we could make this one positive
If you could just break me down
I would relax.
By Amy Simone Piller
Have we outdated ourselves
running through each other’s veins?
Will we mind-read our lives away
traveling dreams of others?
What did you just think?
Post-it, share it,
you are valuable (dammit).
I miss packages (rue the day)
the present of distance
space made by missing.
If only we didn’t communicate so often
we would miss what wasn’t always.
By Amy Simone Piller
We pretzel again and again
various motivations, myriad forms
match what the media makes mandatory
what this age is meat to be
tests, technology, computerized success
possibility and wait
terrifying trajectory
at what cost do we leap
what lily pad we do we leave
the onslaught of your beliefs:
“They’re too young to know what’s good for themâ€
“Test them regularlyâ€
“Are your kids going to be [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
To avoid apoptosis
commit to never ever together
respect ten-year old-needs: to please,
maintain equity, jobs and positions fixed
organized classroom structures
expectations, functionality.
Nothing is cool; un-status quo holds
make space for evolutionarily selected odds
creativity all encompassing
redefine need
we are organelles of a world
the aggregate organ of many pieces
need each other
unabashedly.
By Amy Simone Piller
I.
Explain “culture,†explain the birth of civilization,
explain evolution as a theory,
(avoid the political landscape of why I’m saying it’s a theory
although anywhere else I wouldn’t disclaim it),
explain the difference between fact and opinion
in the name of naming it a theory.
Be prepared for questions like
“Who’s Christ?†when you explain the origin of the term B.C.
acknowledge that [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
Exclusivity (n):
1. What you wish you could do?
2. What you’re not willing to take action to do?
3. What you really do not want to be a part of
but want to be anyway?
4. What you lack motivation for?
5. What you lack skills for?
6. Your desire to be a plant
though you are a mammal.
When you wish you [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
Sleep until you are ready
get up to do something you love
touch someone if only by saying “helloâ€
Play more than one role
permit yourself imperfections
strive for calm
Listen to your arteries work
write the rhythms only you hear
accept you are alone
Do not excuse yourself from possibility
engage in minutes’ madness
take on time’s dogged power
Drink coffee, fold the laundry, run,
read, do [...]
By Amy Simone Piller
Varying by situation and person
plus corners, directionals
children and trying to explain
life is not simply ethics
or a college course gone awry
people’s lives hinge on listening
we take corners, we take to our sheets
we hide when too much is demanded all at once
confluence has its way with us
follow sugar on your tongue when you taste it
take the cues [...]