Posted in Uncategorized, tagged death, friendship, poem, poetry on July 11, 2015| 2 Comments »
I may never see you again.
I’m not trying to be morbid,
it’s just true. But that’s not
the reason I hug you so long,
so close. It’s just because
it feels so good to hold you,
your arms in my arms,
your laugh so familiar,
my smile so real, so unhidden.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged deer, family, poem, poetry on July 9, 2015| 4 Comments »
Still in spots, oh!,
the fawn at the edge of the willows.
It tugged with startling ferocity
at its mother’s underside.
I wanted to stop and stare,
to linger there, to disappear
in the thicket and watch
as they grazed and nursed and slept.
Instead, I continued on toward
home at the edge
of the willows where there
were hungry mouths
to feed, and milk to warm,
and waiting beds.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged love, mystery, parenting, poem, poetry on July 8, 2015| 5 Comments »
Right there on the side street curb,
I did it. I quit. I told my children
to find another mom. I’m done,
I said. Please, go find another woman
who doesn’t get so frustrated, who
lets you do any little thing you want.
I didn’t think about the future.
All I knew was that I had nothing
left to give them. It had not been
a terrible day. We rode bikes
alongside a river. We had panned
for gold in a makeshift sluice.
We had snuggled in bed with a book
to start the day. Sometimes our lowest points
look so shallow on the surface.
Who could see that there was a fathomless dry ocean
inside me, nothing but a basin where once
whole worlds had thrived.
It was habit that saved us. We closed
the doors to the car. I walked
toward the street without looking back.
It was a few seconds later I feared
that perhaps they were not behind me,
but there they were in quiet step.
How could it be, but in those few seconds
some mysterious hand had come
to refill the empty sea, not just with enough
to wade in, no, but with love overflowing,
great tides of love, the kind you can sail on
in boat that only floats with more than one on board.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged ice age, love, mammoth, objective, poem, poetry, warmth on July 8, 2015| 2 Comments »
Watching the PBS Special on the Ice Age
They are like tree rings, the tusks of the wooly mammoth.
The announcer explains how they show years of abundance
and years of scarcity. Even to a woman sitting on her couch
watching the NOVA special, the difference is obvious. Thick bands,
narrow bands. It all had to do with weather, says the voice.
Well, that is a simplification, but that’s basically what he says.
The last few years of this specific mammoth’s life were tough.
The announcer speculates many consecutive seasons of drought
or cold. I wonder what if the heart could show such trends.
What if the right camera lens or carbon test could show
which years of a life were full of warmth and love and which
were marked by chill? They are worth something, the tusks,
regardless how thick or thin the rings. They are valuable
just because they are what they are. And the heart, well,
I imagine the announcer, how he might say, “We can see
how in this season the environment was less favorable.”
And there would be no judgment in his voice. Not really
compassion, either. Just a well-modulated narration
of how things are. Sometimes it is difficult. Sometimes we thrive.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged happiness, invitation, poem, poetry on July 6, 2015| 2 Comments »
same moon, same stars,
same chance to believe it’s the best
night of my life
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Ah Haa School for the Arts, poetry classes, Revision, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer on July 5, 2015| Leave a Comment »
How do you improve your writing? This week I will be leading a free class at the Wilkinson Public Library in Telluride, “Putting the Polish on You Poems.” It is a teaser for a five-week class I will be leading through the Ah Haa School for the Arts starting later this month. Not sure you are ready for re-vamping your work? That’s why we offer this teaser. Join me from 6 to 8 on Wednesday, July 8. I believe in positive reinforcement and creating a safe environment for sharing, and I also love to push people in their craft. If you can’t make the class, but would like help with your poems, please inquire about my hour-long poetry conversations, available in person or over the phone.
for more information about the Ah Haa Class, visit http://www.ahhaa.org/calendarize/putting-the-polish-on-your-poems/
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged cat, meditation, poem, poetry on July 5, 2015| 3 Comments »
Well, it’s obvious who’s been meditating more,
me or my cat. I can’t remember the last time
I sat on this cushion. Organic cotton. Unbleached.
But the cat, well, apparently she is nearing nirvana.
Based on thick layer of gray and black hair,
she’s clearly sat here for hours, perhaps contemplating
nothing as I have often strived to do. Striving for nothing.
The paradox is not lost on me. The cushion, however,
has been essentially lost. Not once have I thought of it
in months, did not consider it at all as it quietly
waited there with its company of dust bunnies.
It seems content enough. I vacuum it off, but I do not sit,
oh no, there is much too much to do, like clean
the meditation cushion, top and bottom. Who
could possibly sit on a day such as this, the house
full of clutter and a cat box to empty, the yard
full of weeds, the day full of marvels
and swervings and oh, just look at that blue.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged firework, inspiration, poem, poetry on July 4, 2015| 4 Comments »
not once
has a firework apologized
for being so bright—
like that, I think,
live like that
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged poem, poetry, possibility, saying yes to the world as it is on July 3, 2015| 2 Comments »
Between the moth wing
and the fire,
between the river
and the road,
between the moon
and what we’re told,
between loss
and a kiss,
there is this sense
that anything
might happen—
a wound, a word,
a wondering,
an opening
to the world
just as it is.
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged love, poem, poetry on July 2, 2015| 1 Comment »
your beautiful lips—
how is it I so often bring you
an empty cup?