Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Siri, are you there?

Four poems by Marie Albertson

Marie Albertson is a theologian, counselor, social worker, and aspiring poet.
Marie Albertson is a theologian, counselor, social worker, and aspiring poet.

Water I

  • The womb
  • Is made up of equal parts
  • Water and stars.
  • There is no way to distill this brew 
  • Further down in its essence.
  • You wait until you cannot stand anymore 
  • The pressure heat pressure pushing
  • And the cold bright sky
  • Hinting at your destiny.
  • You erupt
  • From this tight endless space
  • And walk into the world.
  • The further from water we get:
  • The further from our beginnings. 

Water II

  • Make me one of Neptune’s daughters 
  • And I will leap down any creek
  • Like light through space.
  • I will splash any shore, 
  • Ride any wave that breaks endlessly 
  • On our small green ground.
  • I will swoop through the clouds
  • And I will rain. 
  • Because is that not water too? 
  • And wait in a lake
  • For you to drink me down. 

Letter to God Written on Rocks

  • I came to see the desert
  • To look down and see sand
  • Down deep and see
  • Nature’s extremity:
  • Bleached white bones and
  • Well armed plants full of water.
  • I came to bake myself
  • under this sun’s open fire
  • Until my impurities were well gone
  • Or I discovered the hope of their removal
  • To be a sham.
  • I came to see
  • I came to conquer with my will
  • And not be amazed
  • I would have gone 
  • Without wonder,
  • Had not sudden shafts of light Illuminated the clouds
  • Like a moment from revelation, Changing my landscape.
  • I take away no desert relics.
  • I leave the desert.
  • And like a canyon pool
  • And not the mountain lake 
  • Attempt to reflect the glory
  • that is You. 

Siri 

  • Siri are you there?
  • Siri I am lonely.
  • Siri will you comfort me through  broad stretches of the night?
  • Siri I do not have a job.
  • Siri I want a life of meaning.
  • Siri I stole cheese cracker packets from the grocery store last night. Siri could you
  • love me?
  • Oh, Siri I need love.
  • For I am afraid of what happens when the power shuts down. 

Marie Albertson is a theologian, counselor, social worker, and aspiring poet who finds inspiration in the natural world and the intersection of culture and physical space. More information about Albertson can be found at mariealbertson.com.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Classical Classical at The San Diego Symphony Orchestra

A concert I didn't know I needed
Next Article

Pie pleasure at Queenstown Public House

A taste of New Zealand brings back happy memories
Marie Albertson is a theologian, counselor, social worker, and aspiring poet.
Marie Albertson is a theologian, counselor, social worker, and aspiring poet.

Water I

  • The womb
  • Is made up of equal parts
  • Water and stars.
  • There is no way to distill this brew 
  • Further down in its essence.
  • You wait until you cannot stand anymore 
  • The pressure heat pressure pushing
  • And the cold bright sky
  • Hinting at your destiny.
  • You erupt
  • From this tight endless space
  • And walk into the world.
  • The further from water we get:
  • The further from our beginnings. 

Water II

  • Make me one of Neptune’s daughters 
  • And I will leap down any creek
  • Like light through space.
  • I will splash any shore, 
  • Ride any wave that breaks endlessly 
  • On our small green ground.
  • I will swoop through the clouds
  • And I will rain. 
  • Because is that not water too? 
  • And wait in a lake
  • For you to drink me down. 

Letter to God Written on Rocks

  • I came to see the desert
  • To look down and see sand
  • Down deep and see
  • Nature’s extremity:
  • Bleached white bones and
  • Well armed plants full of water.
  • I came to bake myself
  • under this sun’s open fire
  • Until my impurities were well gone
  • Or I discovered the hope of their removal
  • To be a sham.
  • I came to see
  • I came to conquer with my will
  • And not be amazed
  • I would have gone 
  • Without wonder,
  • Had not sudden shafts of light Illuminated the clouds
  • Like a moment from revelation, Changing my landscape.
  • I take away no desert relics.
  • I leave the desert.
  • And like a canyon pool
  • And not the mountain lake 
  • Attempt to reflect the glory
  • that is You. 

Siri 

  • Siri are you there?
  • Siri I am lonely.
  • Siri will you comfort me through  broad stretches of the night?
  • Siri I do not have a job.
  • Siri I want a life of meaning.
  • Siri I stole cheese cracker packets from the grocery store last night. Siri could you
  • love me?
  • Oh, Siri I need love.
  • For I am afraid of what happens when the power shuts down. 

Marie Albertson is a theologian, counselor, social worker, and aspiring poet who finds inspiration in the natural world and the intersection of culture and physical space. More information about Albertson can be found at mariealbertson.com.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

In-n-Out alters iconic symbol to reflect “modern-day California”

Keep Palm and Carry On?
Next Article

Second largest yellowfin tuna caught by rod and reel

Excel does it again
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader