In celebration of National Poetry Month we have been sharing the books Poetry of Presence II and Exploring Poetry of Presence II through a community read. Have you been reading and writing along with us? We would love to see what you have been working on. Feel free to share your work in the comment box below.
Electric blue morning sky
Paws of love on my ankles.
On retreat, finally
Quiet joy
Such a feeling of peace in this! I can feel the furry weight on my ankles, too. The love. The contentment. Thank you for sharing, this Judith!
In the name of
the soft young child,
and the scent of pine
on a warm summer wind
and the bobcat’s steady otherworldly gaze
I pledge to be kind
no matter how many images of hatred I see
or how many times fear invades my veins.
In the name of the tides
of the Atlantic and Pacific
and the first warm breeze of spring
I will endeavor to forgive
and free us from unloving bindings.
Because of the blessings we are given
the flutter of a chickadee’s wing
or the stillness of day’s last light
I will remember we are all kin
passing through this world together.
Lovely poem, Linda, I love the honest sentiment, and the evocative detail: “the bobcat’s steady otherworldly gaze” “the flutter of a chickadee’s wing”
Wonderful pledge of allegiance!💜
It’s so tempting to want to work this over! Just wanted to let it be and get my feet wet with sharing. Linda
“Work this one over…” sounds a bit like an interrogation : )
How about playing with it? I can play with poems for hours, days, weeks, discovering something new every time I come to it, but approaching revision with playfulness tends to coax it out of hiding…
At any rate, I’m so glad you took the dive to share it with us!
thanks, appreciating the call to turn toward playfulness:)
💖👍🏼🙏🏼‼️
The fire going
The windows open
Holding both , to balance
This sad awkward day.
Llorona, her tears often
In the back room.
While Heart is valiantly saying Yes
To Life. The mirage softens
The horses spook by the Grandmother
Tree. Leash falling out of pocket
Izzi charging free from her DNA
BERRY PIE, a gift
Shoulders aching, a gift
Letting go of wishing for different,
Finding a way to become the love I want
In the world.
And wanting a do-over on goodbyes…
Just so I could feel again and let them know
How much love we shared.
love the way this roams over all the elements, all the tangles…
Love the opening, Judith the rhythm of opposites, “holding both,” and the liveliness of the leaps in the poem like “spooked horses” and that phrase “do-over on goodbyes…”
Thank you for sharing!
Thank you – appreciating this challenge and invitation to give more attention to this Life unfolding🙏🏼💖
She is always listening,
With sound, up pops her head
Inquisitive to All,
Senses wide open,
Nose and ears and eyes
Moving softly toward sound,
I love watching her take in
This beautiful wild world
And when fully connected to All,
Resting into her soul self again,
At peace,
Head softly cradled on paws.
I love the way this poem is as alert as the dog you describe! I can almost see nostrils quivering, before we find release in the last two lines:
At peace,
Head softly cradled on paws.
Abortion
Some memories are so old
so rinsed in retrospection
it’s hard to find the feelings
they belong to
but I remember two things –
after the procedure, still numb,
I caught a glimpse of you
standing at the foot of my bed
a girl of 5 or so with soft black hair
and quiet gaze
And several years later I bought you a
black velvet dress, trimmed with white lace
at the wrists and neck
a special occasion dress
so perfect for you with your dark hair
I don’t know what possessed me
I told myself I’d find a child to give it to
even though I knew it was just for you
It stayed in the attic for years until
finally I left that house and moved away
What an opening! Just the music of the phrase “so rinsed in retrospection,” is worth the price of admission, but the completion of the thought “it’s hard to find the feelings they belong to…” lands with such impact for me, and the deep feeling underneath the retrospection, unnamed, but felt, tucked away safely in the attic…
A powerful, powerful poem. Thank you for sharing it with us…