Amigo mio

Amigo mio, señor menos sibilante que la brisa,
Hoja en perpetuo otoño,
Pétalo que viaje por paracaídas,
En los remolinos del viento.

Debajo de las plantas,
Y en fondos de arrugas profundas,
Encontrarás el último polvo de arena,
En que vagaban los discípulos de Jesucristo.

En la nave levitan cánticos trapenses,
En la cueva elevan levaduras indómitas,
En el marfil captan deseos destapados,
En la torre estiran océanos auroras,
En los astros cruzan cuerpos errantes.

Polilla empolvada,
Criatura de sombra y cielo,
Criatura de luz,
El viento roba tu esencia,
La brisa te lleva al numen,
Aleteas contra la noche,
Me encuentras
En un peldaño inadvertido.

Juggling

A few years ago, I picked up juggling on a whim. It was a thing. A thing I couldn't do. A thing I wanted to do. I started practicing.

For those that can or have tried to juggle, you know that while it's simple it's not easy. Two hands, three balls, repeated arcs. No complication, complexity, or chaos here. How hard can it be?

Try it. Depending on previous experience and fine motor skills, you might be able to pick up the three-ball cascade in a few hours of practice. That's all it takes: practice and pushing yourself. It took me days of 30-minute sessions.

Some beginners start with handkerchiefs, but following Teddy Roosevelt, I used what I had, where I was. Lacrosse balls, in the basement of my parents' house, where I was living. Days later, I graduated to juggling walks around the neighborhood, chasing dropped balls down hills. A cigar-smoking neighbor said, "Can you chew gum at the same time too?"

I branched out. I bounced balls against walls. I learned to run and juggle, or "joggle." I juggled in tandem with other people. I learned a few three ball tricks. I bought antique, laminated, balanced oak juggling 'clubs' on Craigslist and learned to juggle them without more than a split lip. Eventually, I ordered a set of fluorescent-green molded plastic clubs, which are more reliable, more resilient, and less likely to knock me out. Even more eventually, after a few years, I learned how to juggle four balls.

Over the years, I've learned a few things from juggling.