staring at the moon
until it becomes a door
I walk through
Archive for January, 2018
The Lesson
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged coffee, poem, poetry, practice, seeking, truth on January 30, 2018| 6 Comments »
I asked the world
to teach me of truth
and waited and waited
for a lesson. Anything.
A bird. A rainbow.
A bug. A storm.
But nothing.
And so I went in
and made a cup
of coffee—ground
the beans and steamed
the milk and cradled
the cup in my hands.
And I tasted it.
Modigliani Remembers Anna Akhmatova as He Sketches Her Naked, Again
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged anna akhmatova, ekphrasis, loss, modligliani, poem, poetry on January 28, 2018| 1 Comment »
She said my eyes had a golden gleam,
but it was her eyes, her eyes that redeemed
the world—the way she translated all she saw
into slender verse. I still hear her voice, soft as rain,
as she’d say, 0 Il faut, voyez-vous,
nous pardonner les choses—reciting Verlaine
as we sat beneath my old black umbrella
in the Jardin du Luxembourg. I knew,
even then, she would leave me. Knew
that although she threw red roses onto my floor
she would always return to Russia, her home.
Oh, but the tapered length of her. Like a candle,
a dancer, an Egyptian queen. How
her figure astonishes me. I draw her always
by memory. She, with the poise
of a Siamese cat. She with her stray dog soul.
When she left me, she took a single scroll
with her portrait sketched in pencil.
She tells me she’s taped it above her couch.
But she never returned. She never
returned. Now all my lines are ghosts.
To see some of Modigliani’s images of Anna Akhmatova, visit:
One Inner Game
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged balance, chess, inner turmoil, poem, poetry on January 27, 2018| Leave a Comment »
playing chess with myself—
always my two queens at odds,
with every move, I lose, I win
Petunia No. 2
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged beauty, ekphrasis, flower, Georgia O'Keefe, petunia, poem, poetry on January 27, 2018| Leave a Comment »
When Georgia painted the petunia,
she knew that to make busy people stop
in surprise and consider petunia,
she needed to make it large—
and she did—enormous petunias
revealed, unfolding along the wall—
and there the busy people saw
the intimate petals of women,
when all Georgia wanted to show them
was flower, the essence of flower,
the beauty of flower, the pure
purpled splendor of flower—
how soft, how sensual, how
wholly day stopping
a single flower can be.
to see the artwork, visit:
https://www.okeeffemuseum.org/store/products/posters/flowers/petunia-no-2-1924/
Oenophilia
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged love, poem, poetry, wine on January 26, 2018| 8 Comments »
How the glass holds the wine
gives it shape, lets it breathe,
this is the way you hold me—
without you, I’m spill, I’m puddle,
I’m unfound, with you, I know myself
as something savored, relished,
held up to the light.
One in the Eye of the Beholder
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged aging, books, poem, poetry, reading, story on January 25, 2018| 8 Comments »
reading the book again—
the dogeared pages the same,
the story in them, wholly changed
Not Your Everyday Joy Ride
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged bliss, joy ride, poem, poetry, shame on January 24, 2018| Leave a Comment »
No, this time Shame suggests
you take the driver’s seat,
and though you’re nervous at first,
it’s so fun—your hands
on the wheel, your foot
heavy with bliss—you split
the scene so fast
that Shame begs you to pull over,
leaps from the car, then tries
to hitch a ride home.
Meanwhile you speed
toward the sunrise as it
crooks its long pink fingers
at you, tugging on the hood,
making the whole world
blush. Yeah, you think,
it’s nice this way.
Out the window, the birds
are just beginning to sing.
One in the Middle of the Ocean
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged friendship, love, parenting, poem, poetry, support on January 22, 2018| 8 Comments »
wanting to be your lifeboat
when what you really need
is someone to let you swim
and if you live nearby, you may want to consider this public speaking class I will be teaching for the next six Thursdays through Ah Haa … http://www.ahhaa.org/calendarize/public-speaking-rosemerry-wahtola-trommer/
Praise Song in January
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged fire, letting go, poem, poetry on January 21, 2018| Leave a Comment »
Praise the tree as we throw
its branches into the fire,
the needles once green
now brilliant, now ash,
and praise the flames
that consume. Praise
the small hands that
toss the old boughs
and the squeals as the blaze
blazes higher. Praise
the empty space
in the room where all
we see is absence
of tree. Praise the darkness—
that canvas for light
that invites us
to find in ourselves
something to burn.
It’s a cold world.
What are we willing
to offer?
In the Chicago Zoo
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged beauty, flamingo, poem, poetry on January 21, 2018| 2 Comments »
We stop beside the flamingos,
their necks more question marks
than exclamation points—
I revel in their improbable beauty,
how their very being
brightens the bleak midwinter,
wonder if I might
not find a little
pink in me.
One Perspective
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged driving, perspective, poem, poetry on January 20, 2018| Leave a Comment »
first stepping into the galaxy
to see that tiny blue dot—
now ready to watch the news
One Fluttering
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged bird, poem, poetry, wings on January 20, 2018| 6 Comments »
Advancing
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged beauty, fencing, poem, poetry, touch on January 17, 2018| 8 Comments »
In fencing, they call it la belle,
“the beautiful one” the tie-breaking point
in a bout—that moment when
one person touches another
and the balance is tipped.
How long ago the balance tipped
in your favor. How long ago
I knew that all I really want
is to lower my sword,
give the invitation
for you to touch me again,
beautifully, tip to target, then
start the bout again.
On a Difficult Day
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged fear, hope, poem, poetry, prayer, support on January 17, 2018| 13 Comments »
Because I don’t know how to pray,
I do what I know to do,
which is to sit very quietly
and let myself feel. To hold you
without holding you.
To imagine your fear
and breathe into it.
To feel my own fear
and walk the edges of its cliffs.
To lean on hope with its flimsy
net and feel how little it takes
to catch us, to save us.
One for My Death
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged death, gratitude, poem, poetry on January 16, 2018| 11 Comments »
One Gospel
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged bowing, honoring, poem, poetry, tulip on January 14, 2018| 4 Comments »
lavishly splendid,
the purple tulips in their vase—
there is nothing they don’t bow to
Just Before It Melts
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged poem, poetry, shine, sun on January 13, 2018| 8 Comments »
Before the sun
has reached
the meadow
on the tip
of a tall blade
of dry grass,
a single
brilliant
sparkle—
see how
it offers
radiance
to anyone
who
will look,
though
that is not
why it
shines.
One Bite of Finland
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Finland, memory, poem, poetry, rye on January 13, 2018| Leave a Comment »
More Opening to Do
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged god, opening, poem, poetry on January 12, 2018| 6 Comments »
But I took the door
off the hinges,
I said, knowing
I had more opening
to do. Yes,
said God, before
tearing down
the whole house.