good news from the weekend by katherine osborne & chad redden

7/21/2019 Good News From The Weekend by Katherine Osborne & Chad Redden

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GOOD NEWSFROM THE WEEKEND

Katherine Osborne

Chad Redden

LAB LAB LABS 2015



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Good News From the Weekend

Katherine Osborne

Chad Redden

Copyright © 2015

ISBN 978-0692502815

Cover and design by Chad Redden

Published by Lab Lab Labs of Indianapolis, IN

lablablabs.net



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This book is full of pines and good news. The pines are full of

good news, and the good news is full of pines. Not just regular

good news, it is good news from the weekend. And the good

news from the weekend is also full of good news from Doug

the helicopter pilot. There is good news from the Rule Books

for Rule books. If you were wondering, the Village Witch and

the Village Mayor have good news too. The weather reporters,

the red smoke rising in the south, and even the carvings inthe pine bark are full of good news. And if you didn’t think

there could be good news on the shore of the Man made lake,

then you will be pleasantly surprised. Even the out of focus

side of the mountain has good news. As well as the Guilty

Air Moon, the sculpture dedicated to searching, and Emily

the bat, who is very full of good news. Where there is smoke

at the Rachel made lake there is good news. Where there is

a fishing competition there is good news. At the pollination

workshop? Yes, there is good news. From the letter carrier?

Of course. It is inside of the Rule Book for Fireflies and under

the Abandoned Shopping Mall Moon. The ferret’s dream is a

good news dream. Good news can be found at the Cub Club!

recreational zone, sleeping inside the sleeping bag, floating in

the Gary made lake, and even when the vision quest pauses

for a snack break. And a catfish from Raleigh and a still life



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painter have something in common and that is good news.

Even the practice of lightning and the wolf workshop and

the Breath Holding Moon have good news. The gopher from

Bowling Green has good news. So do the wolf with a pine cone

in his mouth and the drunken blue heron and the raccoon

from Akron. The Village Sheriff will certainly share good

news with you. So will the crow from Muncie and the NightAccountant. And when you find the finger in the mud, you

will find good news. It sits with the vultures who boil instant

noodles. It is in the pages of the Rule Book for Bears. It is

in the light of the Heirloom Hairbrush Moon. You can rent

a canoe full of good news at the canoe rental shack. Don’tforget to pick up the Rule Book for Cranes or the Rule Book

for the Village Witch so you can find more good news. The

teens? Oh yes, very full of good news. Down the well? Yes.

Deep inside the Cavern of Last Birthdays? Of course! Look up

to the Empty Jar Moon, or the equally sad clouds, the adjacent

sky, the sunset, or the bulletin board if you want to see more

good news. And where there is a migration or a night racket,

then there is good news as well. Good news is in the smell that

radiates from the Blackwoods. Creates the light moving across

the treeline. Rings in the payphone. Gurgles in the Andy made

creek. Burns at Trash Burning Rock. Sharpens the knife sideof the mountain. Moths around the Porch Light moon. The

buffalo in the middle of the road will be sure to share good

news with you. The rabbit will tell you about a dream full of

good news. When the snowstorm arrives, it brings good news.



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It fills up both the cabin fever and the Rule Book for Moths.

Good news is also inside the light of the lanterns across the

creek, the Vanishing Kindness Moon, the ice river, and the

shivering and crying squirrel. And when thinking about good

news you will of course find more good news. It is even under

the ice of the frozen Stanley made pond. Burns in the Cabin

Fire Moon. Tunnels beneath the pines. Inspires the VillageArsonist. Good news is a religious experience. Good news

gives the woodpecker from Fort Worth purpose. Leads the

funeral procession. Squirms under the Muddy Knees Moon

and hides in the abandoned barn. It drinks on the rooftop

and wakes up with stray teens who wake up in clover. It waitsat the end of Old Beacon Spells road. Good news is at the

Night Sky Festival and the disappearing grounds. And even

inside the village dumpster. Good news asks questions at the

question and answer portion of the poetry reading. Comes out

of the bullfrog from Kansas City. Keeps a baby named Pine

company. Sleeps under the Trembling Twig Moon. Appears in

the dreams of the General Store ATM before floating through

the tornado. You can see it in the glare of the sun. Hear it in

the earthquake and the Rule Book for Thunder. Good news is

a heat wave. An abandoned lot. A cave where solitude does not

mean loneliness. Good news happens on an alternative Earth.It appears as the Sun and comes back at night with the Secret

Blooming Moon. Good news floats on thermals above Skull

Bone Prairie. Fills the Fragile Ribs Moon. Burns everything

up with a forest fire. Then comes back for another weekend.



Good news from the weekend



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Last year it was all pines

Now it’s pines with a helicopter circling overhead

Now it’s pines with wild hair

waking up with colliding needs

Last year there were too many cardinals

Every campsite was on fire with cardinals

This year it’s too many squirrels

with lost paper tails catching

and hanging from pine branches

Good news from Doug the helicopter pilot

Doug also goes by Douglas



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Good news from the Rule Book for Rule Books

A bundle of people

put into a book

can be anything

Improbable eagles for a minute

Impossible fish for another

The pines are a type of book

The people bundled in the pines

are proof of that

Good news from the Village Witch

The pines are always talking

about good news

They don’t know any better



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Good news from the Village Mayor

Last year only one tourist joined the pines permanently

This year is already down one daughter named Emily

Emily is dressed as a bat

She might be sleeping during the day

and hard to see at night

Her mother is dressed as an owl

and named Kristen

Use this information

when attempting to communicate with bats



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Parents tell their children

to pretend bird blood is inside of them

unless the children are dressed as mice

and then it is mouse blood

unless the children are wearing plastic headbands

and then it is bee blood

unless the children are wearing carpet remnants

and then it is cougar blood

Good news from the weather reporters

How does the air feel

Maybe with little hands

no one can see



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The pines grew from seeds

designed by former engineers

who retired from Disneyland

who shot the seedlings into space

where something in the radiation

where something in the lack of gravity

where something influenced the pines

Good news from the red smoke rising in the south

There are folks living in the Blackwoods

whose value preferences remain unknown

Good news from the carving in the pine bark

REMEMBER

THIS IS A MEMORIAL



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Good news from the shore of the Man made lake

The fox pauses life a moment

for a photograph

The mountain is out of focus

The moose asks what the fox did

to make the mountain appear so tender

Good news from the Guilty Air Moon

No one sleeps when it is

the sound of portable chairs

portable wheeled coolers

portable butane stoves

levitating into tallest of the taller pines

Pines with open mouths

Pines with recreational desires

The year is getting

expensive for everyone



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Found an empty raft

Found two teeth on the raft



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During the soft hour

people hang

from branches

and sing

and feather

Birth happens

between the pines

A small pebble appears

A small magic pebble

Good news from the sculpture dedicated to searching

Now it’s pines and the sound of pines

The helicopter circling overhead



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The pilot contemplates

what it means

to be inside of a day

If the sun

could be a forgiveness sculpture instead

No one could ever read it

The sun is too bright

but under the sun

are babies

Under the surface of the sun

Good news from Emily the bat

Is it safe

That song

from the pines



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Now it is sky inside of sky

Good news from the smoke at the Rachel made lake

Moods come out like that

So often and without any names

Good news from the fishing competition

When it is time for fishing

the fish crouch down in the current

Their plastic skins ripple like terrible things

like how the forms of short stories are terrible things



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There is a hill for only kissing

There is another hill

to see days in the distance

Days forward

or days backward

It depends upon the who

sees from upon the hill

Good news from the pollination workshop

The bees talk

about which books to read

to get over a breakup

and which books evoke

the heartbreaking



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realization that living

is the easiest option

One bee mentions

Nicholas Sparks

Another bee agrees

Good news from the Man made lake

There is some confusion about the Man made lake

If the Man made lake is really a Gary made lake

because 4 logs float counter-clockwise around the lake

which is a signature feature of Gary made lakes


A bundle of people

put into a lake

can be a raft of otters

Maybe a myth of lake serpents for a minute

Maybe a hover of trout for another



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Trash bag tails stuffed with newspaper

turn soft after a day

Newspaper tails stuffed with balloons

turn soft after a rain

Balloon tails stuffed with air

turn soft after a night

Rope tails stuffed with rope

never turn soft

only heavy

Good news from the letter carrier

Now it is sky inside of sky

or a dangerous operation

Often that is the subject of their letters



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Often the letters are not finished

being written

being read

If it is not sky inside of sky

It is letters about the mountains

Are they moving closer

or growing bigger

Good news from the Rule Book for Fireflies

A brightly blinking bicycle tail light is cheap

and when worn around the neck can catch attention

Good news from the Abandoned Shopping Mall Moon

Witnessing two people

wearing expensive horse costumes

in a football field will bring luck

Think about the luck of sugar

when witnessing the horses together



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Watch them kiss each other

Think of their lips as scars

reconnecting after ocean distance

When there is sun

make eyes at more expensive horses

Continue to find horses

until luck arrives

When luck arrives

spend it all

Good news from the ferret’s dream

Flower

Flower

Follower

Flower

Flower

Faller



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A porcupine

wearing an orange hat

Yelling

How beautiful

the natural world glitters

even through

this reenactment

And glitters

isn’t the right word

but hours are wasted

not yelling for pines

On alternate Earths

the pines yell back



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Good news from the Cub Club! recreational zone

The pines are thought to be friendly

They are the inhabitants of this realm

From a distance they look soft

They are the ground carpet

Above is the star carpet

Unless it is suntime

and then it is the cloud carpet


Now it’s the part of the day

when God acknowledges crying

in the shower

and after

the sounding of the shotgun

big flames of a songbird

a hello collecting night and story



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Her blood tries to outstare the sky’s blood

Above an owl-shaped hole

cuts through the clouds

Burning an owl shaped mark

on her heart

Good news from the sleeping bag

In the dark

the fabric becomes

a better place

to worm


A fine evening

A fine living room



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There are signs among the pines

DO NOT EAT THE PINE CONES

Good news from the Gary made lake

There is some confusion about the Gary made lake

If the Gary made lake is really a Rachel made lake

because a secret island is rumored to float around the lake

which is a signature feature of Rachel made lakes

Good news from the Vision Quest

Water and a light snack

are provided



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Falling thirsty against a pine

she remembers apartments

and kitchens and then a time

when humans wore their own faces

She remembers her face shining

as she leaned into the glossy

oranges at the supermarket

Her mother wearing a dark coat

hurrying into the cold

A field of cars

Good news from the Man made lake

The lizards root for driftwood to cover

their lizard skins while they shed

down to their shame skins



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It is amazing how when an event happens

the event can actually indent the air

It is amazing how an indention can be felt

It is amazing how an indention becomes a place to sit in

which is strange because it is also

becomes a place to stand inside

It is amazing how where there is air there is also grass

It is amazing soft grass

Good news from the catfish from Raleigh

It’s great living

with tails

and trading tails

with friends

and making

new friends

for tail trades



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Good news from the still life painter

The boundary of sight

always creates a wall

unless it creates a window

as if there are pines

and behind those pines a sky

Or pines and then more pines

and a red sky behind

A current underneath

Good news from the practice of lightning

A small cheer rises from the pines



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Geese always tend to say

That mirror surface

or

That water mirror

Never just

That water

or

That that


A bundle of people

put into a cave

can be a cloud of bats

Maybe a bite of stalactites for one minute

Maybe a knot of blind newts for another



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Good news from the wolf workshop

A wolf always stands

at the edge of campfires

with quarter-sized mirrors

held over their eyes

This signal alerts the other animals

to recognize their sudden doom

Good news from the Breath Holding Moon

What defeats everyone

A face where a face is not expected



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It’s great being lost

upon the rim of the valley

And keeping the heart beating

through walking and journaling

And yelling out to the pines below

and hearing nothing yell back

Good news from the gopher from Bowling Green

Cautiously is the best

and only way to reach out

around the pines

Always call out

Always be a presence



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The pines oxygenate the air

with everything they hear

If the pines find a moment

they will adopt the moment

and rename it Good News

The pines are a clock

with one speed

Good news from the wolf with a pine cone in his mouth

Mwrugh hurmph phrey

Good news from the drunken blue heron

The tent tilts

and out spills

a family



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Last year the only mystery

was discovering if the red

mushrooms were poisonous

This year it’s the same mystery

plus the mystery of remembering

who solved last year’s mystery

Good news from the raccoon from Akron

And then someone

in the window

perhaps seeing her

And then someone

in the window

perhaps waving



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Good news from the Village Sheriff

A window without glass

does not mean it is open

Good news from the crow from Muncie

This hill is a dirt cloud

Good news from the Night Accountant

The heart should be unanimous

when it is not

who should ask

What is missing

Someone should ask

and maybe that someone should be her

but the shape she envisions

is more important

It is a pond shape



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When it is night and time for counting

she slides under the pond water

to make sure all of the frogs

and cars occupied with lyric skeletons

are accounted for

Then leaves their shapes

unanimous with the dark



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For a man dressed

as a wolverine

a really nice vacation

can be walking

to any strange sound

with a flashlight expecting

something terrible

to happen and walk

around trees like people

who will never like people

and shine America into light

Good news from the finger found in the mud

A place with fingers

it is not a society

though the human brain

tries to find a society there



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Good news from the vultures boiling instant noodles

The secret to the glowing

beneath the turtles is simple

They watch movies

inside their makeshift shells

On an alternate Earth

real animals stream

between the pines

Good news from the Rule Book for Bears

When mauling another animal

listen for the animal to yield

and end the mauling

in a polite and timely manner



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Sometimes

by the end of the weekend

a blue jay

will switch roles

with a raven

It makes sense

Many want to

feel more feathered

more moody

more omen

Good news from the Heirloom Hairbrush Moon

This night is a hand-held night

Crying might unlock one of the pines



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The forest is a reflection for anyone

Lightning bugs follow the rules and speak softly

Be quiet and wait for the humorous conclusion

It was the duck not the mouse who spoke

Good news from the canoe rental shack

Wear flotation devices

even when looking at a lake

because no divers are certified to dive

the distance of forever here

The lake is that deep and it’s how

a lake shows affection for another lake



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No one remembers

digging the well

that appeared

in the village

No one remembers

if there is a center

of the village

to debate

if the well appeared

in center of the village

Good news from the Rule Book for Cranes

Must stand on two feet

Must at all times

Must stand in the horizon

Must at all times



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Must extend wings in aggressive manner

when approached

Must relocate to the horizon

Must at all times

Good news from the Rule Book for the Village Witch

Photograph unmasked faces

and bury the photos around

the pines and village

Occasionally what is beneath the pines

will be discovered

Occasionally a baby will be discovered

And every discovered baby

should be named Pine



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Last year the pines were mostly green

Now the pines are mostly green and yellow

because of the caution tape

Last year nothing could happen

without a few hundred dollars

Now there is plenty of time to dream

Now there is plenty of time to be with friends


Today there are no letters

about humans

just bees

and pines

and hand language

and August



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Good news from the teens

There is a secret island hidden

somewhere in the lake

It’s a place for underage beers

and where boy hands can grow

where boy hands aren’t meant to grow

And the berries there

are meant to induce laughter

but last year some of the younger doves

started crying at the top of the dunes

about a shadow floating under the surface of the lake

Crying for days until they died



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A breakdown

of the spirit

can come out

as a sing-a-long

or like any cloud

or no particular cloud

forgotten inside

of a larger cloud


Wind has the power to turn back time

Wind doesn’t use that power though

Wind is exactly lacking the willpower of a boar

Wind is exactly where it wants to be as half a boar



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Wind is folded in the blindfold of the horizon

Wind smokes a last cigarette in the sunhappy sky

Good news from the well

The water tastes as clean

as any water from a bottle

Good news from outside the Cavern of Last Birthdays

It’s not an omen but

the dark bird hasn’t left the pine

Something gestures

the birds to the inner branches

The second branch is not where

the second branch should be

A man as a cougar

waits to wear his cross again



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A phone held in the air is kind of flag

Good news from the Empty Jar Moon

A phone held to the ground is a kind of wish



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One explanation

for the coyote

looping around

the sagebrush

is that he keeps

daily footstep goals

Good news from the equally sad clouds

A thing

feeling awake

must repeat

very secret

treatments



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Good news from the adjacent sky

A wife and children watching

like they were stolen out of a commercial

When the heart restarts

it has a difficult time

It remembers but

beats a little dull


A sign on the sun says stay sullen

and of course this is a strange country

and of course it is full of nobody

and of course saying yes

is a serious thing



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Good news from the sunset

The end of every day

makes it looks like

at least another

day will happen

Good news from the out of focus side of the mountain

When the sadness sirens

in village sound

it disappoints the President

shaped clouds

and makes them

less like clouds

and more like distant fogs



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Wild flurries arrive

in dreams

and in scalps

but not in the pines

Some of the flurries

that can stay

decide not to

Good news from the bulletin board

Found a bee journal

Whole book with some water damage

The word “bee” is written on every page

Sometimes more than once



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Good news from the migration

Geese practice dramatic

leavings and landings

because when they return

the landscape

will be remodeled

Good news from the night racket

What is a bad feeling

Does it look like when

the possum from Calgary

mistakes the darkness for a crown

and gets drunk on the fragrances

of dumpsters while mourning

how soon weekends end



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The river has flowed

terribly wrong into

everyone’s shoes

and the road

and into the safe

at the bank

and into the sky

and it’s flowing up

and into the sun

The river has flowed

so terribly much

Good news from the Blackwoods

He lost two kids there



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They were generic trees

with factory cut silk leaves

and they ran without listening

into the swamp

He searched

in the mountings of sawgrass

which seemed like floating cities

or rare water mammoths

And found

the Earth’s prime foundations

the Earth’s million dollars

Good news from the light moving across the treeline

Who is escaping

Who is running without a name

Running into the dark

Into the pines

What is inside of them

Is it maybe a melon



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Miracles can arrive

within any of the twenty-four hours



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Last year the lungs were breathing evenly

This year the lungs are exhausted

Now trouble is crammed inside of a hole

Trouble is a skunk from Tulsa

crammed inside of a hole

and someone recalls

the story of a yellow bear

stuck in a hole

Good news from the payphone

And someone calls

the village fire and rescue team



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Good news from the Andy made creek

And someone calls

for a straw

Good news from Trash Burning Rock

And someone calls

for lizards

Good news from the knife side of the mountain

And someone calls

to the bottom of the knife side of the mountain

Good news from the Porch Light Moon

And someone calls

for the ghosts inside of everything



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The Blue Heron was

seen dragging blue light

out of the blue van

which was parked

The Blue Waxbill was

seen gathering blue

then trading blue

with some teens

Good news from the buffalo in the middle of the road

He corrects everyone and explains

how he is actually a bison



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Good news from the rabbit’s dream

In a newspaper

there is a section

dedicated to the recovery

of feral children

And an editorial

about what promises

to make to coyotes

And an ad

that asks

Does anyone know

the sort of effect

breathing cold air triggers


He owns a grenade

He didn’t have to buy it



60


People developed methods

and ritual and everybody

began snowing

and undressing

and lifting their arms

for flurries to fall free

from their armpits



61

Good news from the snowstorm



62


During an absence of gravity what shouldn’t be named snow



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Good news from the cabin fever

Everything goes into the mouth at once

Even the phone with all its phone numbers

Even the children huddled in circles together



65

Good news from the weather reporters

There are four different colors in the sky

In the north

In the above

In the south

In the south west



66

Good news from the rule book for moths

Keep the curtain open

Look at the snowdrift

Ask how many lambs are inside

Burn around the house

Wrap up in fabric

Be a bride for maybe a day



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Good news from the lanterns across the creek

There were three

One leading the others

or the others chasing the one

Now there is only one



68


Try it

It tickles

Good news from the Vanishing Kindness Moon

Listen up

There is violence


She drops a lit match in the snow

Everyone knows what happens now

She could win



69


Something gathers

beyond the edge

of the cabin light

in threes

Good news from the cabin fever

The important thing is to

keep an interest in sleeping

Good news from the bones found beside the creek

It’s unpredictable

what can land a punch inside the heart



70

Good news from the ice river

Under the ice a kiss

or maybe now it’s a small ice age

without the hassle of larger animals roaming

slow through backyards demanding

weird sleeping arrangements

Good news from the shivering and crying squirrel

She always climbed trees as a child

It’s a really good thing

she isn’t climbing trees now

Trees that are people in costume

There are laws



71

Good news from thinking about good news

Some weekends good news is very hard to find

because most of it fits within a hand

within another hand



72


Last year it was uninterrupted snow

Now it’s snow interrupted by the hibernation teacher

Now it’s paper birds running through the pines

Good news from the frozen Stanley made pond

There is an exhale

just beneath the ice

And an exhale under ice

bubbles in exactly the same way

if it is a scream for help

or the answer to world peace



73


There are glaciers and there are the children of glaciers

The children of glaciers are not icebergs

Icebergs never leave the lake

That is one difference

Good news from the Cabin Fire Moon

The dark resented

the cabin’s generosity

and slumped against

the snow bank

and tried to diagnose

the source of their jealousy



74

Good news from the tunnels beneath the pines

The low life animals keep oaths

To keep sunshine a memory

To know each Pine by rootprint

To obey the Rule Books

To not dig deeper

To not discover what is beneath the beneath

Good news from the Village Arsonist

Last year tool cabinets

This year kitchen cabinets

It’s great how a small thing

like a year can change a person



75


On the bendable ends of branches

strange invisible homes are there

Yellow light hangs in giant slabs

Skirts of meat in the sky

They lift up with ease

Men dressed as coyotes

almost kill themselves

to look all of the way up

Good news from the religious experience

The hunter emerged from the brush

She put bright feathers into motion

Jumped upward with her wings

A secret in the skeleton

kept her down near the field



76

Good news from the woodpecker from Fort Worth

A voice of the sun

is an apple

It is saying

look at this color

explore a hand

Another voice of the sun

is the rock

Listen

It is saying



77


Last year it was clean sheets

Now it’s a shadow tethered to wrinkled sheets

A shadow who is not a restful sleeper

Now it’s more wrinkled sheets


Last year it was just a field

Now it’s a lightning strike

in the shape of a field


Another voice rises from below



78


Earlier this year a bat

lost her way in the pines

which are really

part of a labyrinth

She found the center

and her way home

but no one was sure

if it was really her

that came back

Good news from the funeral procession

Flower

Flower

Follower

Flower

Flower

Faller



79


There’s this hour

in the scheduled dusk

with a throat

when the sky

fills with lessons

The sadness sirens

The teen coyotes

The Pines

The lakes

The babies

The field

recordings

of insects

Decades old

but still

insects



80


This year keeps collecting

Now this year has a buffalo

three teenage chipmunks

a mother named Kristen

and one little bat


Many think thunder is a creature

That when thunder exists

it is once and with a quality of life

determined by the amount of seconds

a thunder can thunder

Thunder is not a temporary creature

Thunder is a family song



81


A hand is within another hand

Good news from the Muddy Knees Moon

The mountain goats shed in the rain

Now it is naked people wearing only horns

Now it is thunderclaps or horns colliding

Good news from the abandoned barn

The starling hides in the eaves

It is a sign of affection



82

Good news from drinking on the rooftop

The greatest injury

would be to not fall

Good news from the strays teens waking up in clover

It’s great to watch everyone

walking on the highway

as if there were a highway

Good news from Old Beacon Spells Road

Deer gather the mannequin arms

sucked up by the storm

It wasn’t even a big storm

They just had really weak arms



83


If anyone hasn’t picked up a stone

and flung it at an airplane

find a stone

If anyone hasn’t found an actual stone

gather litter and fold it

into an origami stone

Good news from the Night Sky Festival

Everyone dresses up

as their favorite moon

It’s easy to tell which

moons come from a city

They are valuable and like

to be photographed



84

Good news from the edge of the Disappearing Grounds

Certain words can bring a parent into view

It’s called communication

Say a word like

help

mom

dad

quick

sand

and in time

a parent will appear

Good news from the village dumpster

The deer couldn’t think of a better place

to dispose of the mannequin arms



85


Lakes in love with other lakes

will sink lower to touch toes

with the toes of other lakes

Pines grow closer together

to forget their individuality

Boulders dissolve into heartbeats

Good news from Q&A portion of the poetry reading

What happens in the stomach of a lake

when that lake sees a lake

they think is very beautiful

Is it frogs or alligators

or is it people swimming deep

and without snorkels



86

And if it is any assortment of animals

does the lake arrange for those animals

to swim inside their stomach

Is the purpose of life on land to work jobs

and live lives waiting for a lake to issue a call

for animals swim within them when the lake

is ready to fall in love

And really

where is the stomach of a lake


There are blue eggs

that need collected

in her dream about blue eggs

One of the eggs is in disguise

It is actually a child

Actually

most of the eggs are children



87

They remove their disguises

in a movement similar to hatching

Some of the children

find rocks for circling

The kind of rocks needed

to build sundials which fail

to shadow every day at 3 PM


One ambition is to live in a house made of bricks

but with bricks where windows should be

For the bricks to fill in the windows

not for the house to be built without windows

Bricks filling the windows so the house looks asleep



88


The loon apologizes for appearing

in the dreams of others

even though the loon is unsure

what he represents to the sleeping mind

It’s the question the loon

would most like an answer to

when he dies

When the angel opens up

the big book with all the answers

The loon believes in big angels

and big books with big answers

Good news from the bullfrog from Kansas City

Found a baby in the pines

Looks okay



89


And is any of this true

A family of puddles is a lake

A family of lakes is a sea

A family of seas is an ocean

A family of oceans is an Earth

Or is a family of oceans is an ocean


One postcard is about the fever shaped clouds

Another is about the saddest thing a squirrel can do

It was about a squirrel trapped in the dumpster

The squirrel was tangled up in mannequin arms



90


Wild ponies arrive

in hallucinations

but not in dreams

or in the fields

Some of the ponies

that can speak

decide not to

Good news from the Stanley made pond

If a sword appears

at the end of an arm

in the middle of the pond

seven times

it must mean something



91

Good news from a baby named Pine

Everything is a little thunderous

Good news from the Trembling Twig Moon

Discover scars on each other

and think that touching them

will bring luck

Think about the luck of monks

when touching the scars of each other

Place sugar into each other’s mouths

and make eyes like the eyes of people wearing

expensive horse costumes

looking into the sun

Continue to discover new scars on each other

and touch them until luck arrives

When the luck arrives

treasure it openly



92


There are woodpeckers and there are woodhammerers



93


Now it’s pines transmitting moods

through the air

Now it’s pines waiting for the year to move into winter

though winter ended a few months ago

Good news from the General Store ATM

Last night a dream

Twenty dollars

It was green

with the seventh

Pine President

on the face



94

Pines standing

above the timberlineon the back

Pines on top

of the mountain



95


The tornado sirens sound

similar to the sadness sirens

Good news floating through the tornado

A bee costume

It is dead

No stinger


Last year it was a ransom note

Now instead of a ransom note it’s a small bear



96


A heartbreaking postcard

in support of vaccination


A soft carnation like propeller


Big flakes of plaster


The end of a song



97


A place for a backyard

A place for a heart to move in place

A place for circles

A place for film development

A place for hearing good news

A place for mannequin arms

A place for free magazines

A place for moisture

Good news through the glare of the sun

Two mammoth columns of clouds

A blanket tossed down carelessly

Invisible golden fish

rise in a sequence

because that is the way of them



98


Many are making plans for last month

Figuring out ways to return there again

Something they’ve learned from plastics

The hope of the returning point

means repeating little moments happening

and then sleep

That’s what makes a day

little moments happening

and then sleep

Slowed down once

and it was the worst



99


Birds begin to wish upon their own wishbones

At the campsite

someone asks another if they hear popcorn

Good news from the earthquake

Everyone is full of concerns

Someone can’t find their water filter

Someone can’t reach their pastry brush

A helicopter is above the pines and the pilot

is not waving back to the people below



100

Good news from the Rule Book for Thunder

Secure all possessions

when piloting the craft

Do not allow cups or wigs

to fall from a helicopter height

Other than death or injury

such actions can cause confusion

Only pilots designated as

rain or snow or hail

may drop objects

from a helicopter height



101


A place for salamanders

A place for a skinned knee

A place for rainwater to evaporate

A place for air to collect

A place for a birthday party

A place for waving

A place for playing dead

A place for a place

Good news from the heat wave

A spell sat here

whispering

the greatest spell

no one ever heard



102

Which was not what

the spell was about

The spell was for the sun

Be a dogfight

here all daylight

Good news from the vacant lot

The answer is no

Good news from inside Solitude Is Not Loneliness Cave

Sometimes the only light

is the unconscious light



103

Good news from an alternate Earth

Something out on the lake

floats into view

It is a swarm of inconsolable bees

merging to become one large inconsolable bee


A headless skeleton was found

out in the grassy circuits

Its bones were black

but not from fire

not from something near

our local sun



104

Good news from the Sun

Other stars have to go a long way to see a living person

Good news from the village Sheriff

On other Earths

the horizon

is a garment to share



105


A place for sleep

A place for visitors

A place for routine

A place for a parked car

A place for the triple-digit summer

A place for borrowing money

A place for cardboard ears

A place for morals to change

Good news from the Sun Day party

Keep people laughing

The spirit evaporates

inside two hours of light

and a deer costume



106

Good news from the Secret Blooming Moon

Not tonight cicadas



107


A fable about fear

has sent the boys

dressed as newts

into the valley below

to prove their newthood

Right now nine lives

are lost there

They are camouflaged

between the pine and pine

Good news from the teens down at Trash Burning Rock

Morning is good

and full of gasoline smell



108

Good news from the village witch

The silhouettes are sad and quiet

with secret wills and secrets

They all know phone numbers to call

but would rather escape on foot


It’s rare when there’s

wind down there

But wind is down there



109


A place for low tide

A place for antlers

A place for red

A place for a mirror

A place for the tent

A place for bread

A place for cars to idle

A place for money to burn

Good news from the thermals above Skull Bone Prairie

It is difficult to tell from here

when the goat started to get thirsty



110


She covers her eyes

and counts to 100

The complicated heat

sends lucid dreams

through the tall grasses

It’s not June yet but feels

like that same kind of trouble

Good news from a baby named Pine

Particles



111


A snake happens in the hole

where a pine once happened

The pine happens

somewhere else now

The pine might now happen

as a door frame or a bed

The pine might now happen

where a snake once happened

There is no answer for anyone

unless they are the pine happening

For everyone else there are only

wishes and better wishes



112


All of the action takes place to the north


In the darkest pen

write a prayer

Everything that needs heard

will be answered immediately

but remember

a door is wild

with what a door does



113


A place for flare guns

A place for the hour between 11 and 12

A place for the sermon

A place for explaining hooves

A place for a myth

A place for zipping apart

A place for the sadness siren

A place for the other siren

Good news from the Fragile Ribs Moon

Stand close enough

to know why midnight exists

It’s meant to take up

the entire field of vision

Never question anyone

standing outside in towel



114

or robe in the dark and crying

Midnight has been known

to cause that kind of reaction

in people when properly observed

When witnessing people in these moments

become a kind of museum guard

who wants to prevent flash photography

But also prevent something else

perhaps anything else from happening


Out drinking rain from little paintbrushes

Pine needles on the tongue and they feel vivid

While a scentless candle burns

for aesthetics like this

While a resting quiet burns

for comfort and assistance like this



115


Smoke from the pines

Rumors of ritual sacrifice



116

Good news from the forest fire

Imagine a message

sent centuries ago

now being received

Imagine a message

that old still able

to be understood

Imagine flags appearing on branches

heralding another form of Christmas

Imagine the roundness of the sky

forgotten in a hurry

Imagine the pines reverse direction

in the dark

Imagine the hidden interior of tree light

casting signatures on a small eye



117

Imagine digging for roots

because roots have blood inside

A blood to drink and stay alive

Imagine in the flames

what looks like a little horse

surrounded by other flames

which look like little riders

who hold their hands up

calling for the next turn to ride

Imagine the soil

has been discovered

and game of hide

and seek has ended

but the soil continues

to crouch down

like it is still hiding

Imagine a man walking

out of the fire

carrying a small deer

with the face

of a daughter

with his own face

with the face of a father



118

Imagine saying

What a great video

all of this would have made



119


The sky painted itself

an unremarkable blue

The sky is famous for that



120

Thank you

Bob Schofield

tumblr dot com

Google Documents

and the Pines



Katherine Osborne lives in Holliston, MA

kdecember.tumblr.com

Chad Redden lives in Indianapolis, IN

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