Susan's Poetry: 06/01/2013

28 June 2013

Reveille

Rooster Harbinger of Dawn, Chinese paper-cut

Woke with the inching minutes, half hours

Between digital turns: six. o. three. six

o. four. most mysterious of dream times

of where-do-we-go times, of planning poem

times—lost to memory no matter how

fast I lurch to journal or computer

or to the dew of dawn with scents of night—

so I microwave yes-today’s coffee,

scrape away its cat food to start anew

telling true stories of the ones escaped

(not lost but un-containable) this day—

I blink but sit down anyway to force

words forth like toothpaste at the very end

of tubes right where they do not bend

Posted for at Poets United Poetry Pantry #156.

26 June 2013

Future Farming

Like learning wood and weave and waves

as carpenters, weavers and beauticians,

Like mechanics knowing engines

and doctors, butchers and masseuse

engaging body parts—

Scholars dig deep

in our own fields to know it all

and plant new seeds that advance crops

and express needs.

High school teachers

cultivate their students to find

the ones that will take root in time

and bloom in field work and its play

speaking its vocabulary,

wielding the tools currently used,

knowing enough to break the rules.

Inspired by Kim's prompt "Verse First ~ Omniscience" at Poets United.

15 June 2013

Father’s Special Day

My Dad could say the day is Not Special

because he knows he is a Valued Dad
Year Round and can hold his own in porch talk

about children, grandchildren and great grands--
all with at least two parents

But I praise the day and call Dad because

The Father’s Day frame fits him so well

I send cards to my brothers and nephew

for the many children among them all

and I pray for my students’ parenting:

That all have significant folk

to love, to nurture, and to give them hope.

Posted at "Father's Day in the Poetry Pantry!"
Love you, DAD!

13 June 2013

Rifle

It was in the Northern Catskill
Mountain wilds off the beaten path

that I held one once, a rifle,

long, sleek, solid, weighty and hand

made of fine-grained wood and cool iron.

We had gathered for this purpose—

to become familiar with what

we hated—a group of women

who cared to explore more than one

side, so we knew our enemy.

I loved the words of it and liked

how it fit my arms—butt and stock

and trigger, forestock, barrel, bolt,

chamber, magazine, and safety.

Mustn’t forget safety. I fired.

I cannot forget the recoil—

kickback for the projectile I

had inflicted on the target,

a target with open circles

and bulls eye ready to receive

I dreamed of guns after that day

how I could thrust myself between

their threat and target, pointed at

unmercifully “lock, stock, and

barrel” an idiom for “all”

I saw myself more often as

target, waiting, a dot of red

on my forehead just below the

apple, and, to my horror, most

often as the one with the gun.

If I went to such a workshop

today, I would want to hold

them all: assault rifles, battle

rifles, carbine, sniper, auto-

matic, repeating, revolving

Anything that could be bought and

carried into a school or play

ground: handguns, bee bee guns, sling shots,

knives, pens, scissors, hate and more hate ...

How do we hold it, the weight of hate?

Thinking out loud, connecting the dots.

Read at The Green-Line Cafe "Gun-Kulture" event in Philadelphia, then posted at Poets United Poetry Pantry #155.

Rewritten: Learning about Guns 3-24-2018

09 June 2013

Don’t Let Up

Mississippi River Barges
By Ed Schipul from Houston, TX, USA.

Life in the shallows doesn't suit poets

except as relief, a minute's respite

from numbers dead in bus accidents and
building collapses, tornadoes and wars

But shallows intensify surges—when
water piles up, it seeks release; so dredge
my living organs, clear channels in moss
and swamp, pile statistics on barges and tug

Posted at Poets United for Poetry Pantry # 153.

Inspired by Apiary's Launch Party and an article in the New York Times, "Shallow Waters and Unusual Path May Worsen the Surge" by By KENNETH CHANG and HENRY FOUNTAIN (October 28, 2012), available HERE.

I have turned off comments at Susan's Poetry for awhile.

It may be that our poems will dialogue with each other during this hiatus.

Susan's Poetry

Pages