Posts for June 10, 2021 (page 3)

Category
Poem

After the thunderstorm

a pair of robins pluck earth
worms between blades
of freshly cut grass. One
hops, dances, loosens
soil & disrupts wiggler
sleep. The second follows
behind – tugs, pulls, flings
the worms like boomerangs
loosed from her golden beak.

Yesterday I caught a dry spell
just enough to trim the front yard
back to an acceptable height. I’m glad
I took that moment then so I can
take this moment now – pause
on the porch, enjoy the show, cheer
for the orb weaver vaulting over
weathered railroad ties into framed
flower beds to escape the carnage.


Category
Poem

Ceremony

voices rise
from around fireside
driftwood burns pure
releasing the innocent
with the tremor of drums
two hundred fifteen children
have been found
in unmarked graves

the whales have arrived
with honor with love
with acknowledgment
a procession
along the waters edge.


Category
Poem

Bears in the North Georgia Woods

To keep them at bay I say poems,
I sing: “I have been fashioned
on a chain of flesh,” I intone
to the trees, then warble
“Tressa had a baby, oooh”—
and I hear no bears, see no bears
except in my mind’s eye—
scruffy brown and tan,
missing eye and ear—
huge gray and white I won
at a fair at fourteen, named
for a boyfriend, displayed
in my room, then packed away
for forty years.    
                             Yellowed
and mute, the bears of my life
lumber in their lairs, listening
for scraps of songs, fragments
of poems, wondering when
I’ll ever let go.


Category
Poem

Bad Bargain.

I love you so much, but I don’t do it right. 
Does quantity matter when the quality is lacking?

You say the right things, and validate me in the best ways.
Yet, I continue to fuck up. 

I stick my foot in my mouth, and turn every situation into one where I’m the center. 
And you manage to stay patient, and listen to the same complaints. 

I set my weight on your already heavy shoulders, 
And you hold it for the two of us. 

Why did you enter this deal, when there was nothing in it for you? 
What happens when you finally realize that you got the short end of the stick?

 


Category
Poem

After She Left Them in the Woods

It wasn’t the children; it was
the ever after mess of them.
Breadcrumbs, jam
fingerprints on all the goblets,
shavings from the twigs the boy
carved ceaselessly just like his mother
taught him. Always the sainted mother
with those two. Dust in all the curlicues,
the French Provincial she had favored.
I pleaded, take me to Ikea!
I would have built a bonfire
but for the ash.
It’s so quiet now without them.
Every surface flat and calm
as water in a pail before the wash.
I’ll not lay my feet down on the carpet.
Leave no tracks.


Category
Poem

in the rain

standing at the kitchen sink,
i stare out the window,
marveling at the change of speed
of the downpour—-from a light,
refreshing rain that bounces
& rolls off the deck to a heavy
rush that you can hear
pounding the roof & then
back again—-i have to grip
the rim of the sink to stop
myself from sinking to the floor

the pop culture romance
of kissing in the rain
haunts me—-dreaming
of your lips on my lips,
your wet hand under my
wet clothes, touching my wet
flesh—-how we can be quiet
& i’m at ease, or how your
lack of words sits like the distant
roll of thunder in my stomach

but to be alone in the rain—-
to star in my own melodrama,
crying as the rainstorm
soaks my clothes & i have nothing
to do with my hands, remembering
how i cried driving home
after being with you

sometimes i wish that i
wasn’t so attracted to you,
so i wouldn’t cry in the
rain, so i wouldn’t dream
of kissing in the rain, so i
wouldn’t be reminded of my loneliness
as the rain streaks across the windowpane

there were days we used to talk
about how much we’d love to just
spend a lazy, rainy day together—-
to just cuddle in bed, kiss,
occupy ourselves with mundane things

yet, i know you’re gonna make
a lonely, rain-obsessed poet sterotype
out of me, aren’t you?


Category
Poem

The Kingdom He Ruled

– after Dr. Seuss

A man may know his worth
only when

he sits down on his throne
and is surrounded

by love:  A dog,
two cats, and knocking

accompanied by shouts
of “Daddy!  Daddy!”

Sometimes, porcelain
is more valuable than

gold.


Category
Poem

Cultural Exchange in the Air

Under a new moon
in the sign of the twins
in the time of cicadas

a combo of mockingbirds
on nearby chimneytops
pulls out all the stops

showing these screeching
strangers something
about melody.


Category
Poem

Words of Pain

I am not full of righteousness
I am not religious
I speak no further words than the words of my truth
There’s no one way of doing it
Words of pain come out of me
And then they are gone
And I like it that way
There is nothing I can do about these traumatic endings
But what’s noble
And that’s live
Which is really hard sometimes
I don’t know any of you
All the way
Just yet
I’m still trying to trust
But I am not holy water
And I’m not a savior
I’m agnostic
I’m bisexueal
I’m a woman
I’m not no “tall drink of water”
But I am not small
I breathe for Tranquility
I breathe for love
I breathe for adventure
I breathe for art
I breathe for words
Whether they be insignificant or full of gut
I breathe because I can
And I’ll welcome death when I’m out of Senzu Beans


Category
Poem

Going to the Chapel

Precious Moment figurines became a bond
between Mom and me.
Bought my first when pregnant with my firstborn.
A wagon overflowing with puppies pushed in a wagon
by a little girl smiling and glowing.
That little girl became a veterinarian.

Mom loved it. Added to my collection with
a Nativity set, a girl going back to school
balancing a book on her head as I returned to college
at age 39, a pumpkin for my October birthday
and many more. Her collection began on
family trips to Gatlinburg where gift shops
carried the Precious memories for her life.
For their 50th wedding anniversary I put
one on their cake.

Mom is gone now and my curio is crowded 
showcasing her figurines. Many gifted over
the years. We spoke of a trip to their home
in Missouri. Sadly we never got there.

Yesterday I completed her Bucket List Wish
with a close friend. Rosemary eyed the 
highway billboard urging me to stop.
So glad I did…spent an hour with Mom
and our Precious Memories at the Chapel
built by their creator…
Samuel Butcher.