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Archive for February, 2019

Of Strangers

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on February 18, 2019| 6 Comments »

 

 

And so it is that kindness stays with me,

the way the woman in the store smiles at me

when she can tell I might start to cry.

 

I carry her smile in my pocket all day,

like a coin, something I carry everywhere

with no effort, but sometimes forget, and then,

 

when my fingers again find the ridged edges,

when I feel the weight of the coin in my palm,

I am struck by how something so small

 

carries value, carries meaning. All day

the smile stays with me. All day, I touch

it again and again, feel how its weight

 

tips some invisible scale, how I remember

again to say hello to fate and fall in love.

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One Stuck

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on February 18, 2019| Leave a Comment »

 

 

I argue yes, no,

yes, no, yes, no, yes, meanwhile

the moon finds more light

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One Friendship

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on February 16, 2019| Leave a Comment »

 

for Corinne

 

 

skiing into the blizzard

finding laughter in gusts and drifts

skiing out into sunshine

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And What Will We Think Twelve Years from N

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on February 15, 2019| 2 Comments »

 

for Amy Irvine

 

 

I didn’t know then we were lucky,

that day when we rode down the hill

on the sleds with our kids. They were cold

 

and crying and reluctant, and the hill

was small, and the thrill was mostly

missing. And I remember you saying,

 

“There will be a day we look back on this,

and think how easy we had it, how

silly we were to think this is hard.”

 

And I remember not quite believing you

as our children continued to scream and

whine, as we dragged them inside and

 

removed their soggy mittens and boots

and socks that had fallen around their arches,

as we made them hot chocolate and

 

talked in the kitchen about sleepless nights

and two-hour tantrums and the loss

of time to ourselves. How could I have known

 

that twelve years later, how sweet that looks,

how innocent, how fun, the kids banging

on the piano, their hands sticky, their faces bright.

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I Finally Understood Why I Meditate

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on February 14, 2019| 4 Comments »

 

 

Nothing happened today

as I sat for five minutes in the dark,

but all day I could feel the everywhere of it,

 

even as the car was sliding sideways down the hill,

even as my daughter wept, even as my singing group

laughed until we cried, I could feel it still there,

 

the silence that holds up all sound, the stillness

that cradles all motion, the peace that supports

every disaster, the blue sky behind the clouds.

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Love Poem

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on February 14, 2019| Leave a Comment »

 

 

in the snowstorm

finding the spaces between the flakes

where it’s clear

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Lifting the Camaro

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on February 13, 2019| 7 Comments »

 

 

 

 

We’ve heard the story of the woman

who lifted the car to save her child,

and though it is hard to believe,

 

it happens. Faced with saving a life,

we find the hysterical strength

to do what seemingly can’t be done—

 

I think of those women today,

and I think of my son, trapped beneath

the chassis of teenage torment.

 

It may not be a two-ton car, but it feels

no less urgent. We save a life in seconds

or we save a life in years—

 

of course I’d lift it right away

if such a lift were possible.

I’d hold that Chevy up until

 

he could roll right out from under.

Instead I try lifting other impossible things:

The crush of being misunderstood. The weight

 

of should. The press of daily surviving.

And I think of those mothers who lift cars.

And I bless them, and keep on trying.

 

 

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A Bouquet of Love Poems for Valentine’s Day

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on February 12, 2019| 3 Comments »

Dear friends,

After all, love is all that will save us. So here, a big bouquet of love poems — because it’s almost Valentine’s Day, but really, just because love matters.

Rosemerry

Big Bouquet of Love Poems

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Hello Never (A Not-a-Country Song)

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on February 12, 2019| Leave a Comment »

 

 

Country Verse

I said I’d never love you,

I said I’d never change.

I said I’d never open up

those bolted doors again.

I said I’d never promise

something like forever,

well, goodbye what I thought would be

and hello, hello never.

 

Real Verse

I said I’d never write a novel,

only poetry.

I said I’d never wear a dress,

now just look at me.

I said I’d never curse the rain

no matter how bad the weather.

Well goodbye what I thought I knew,

and hello, hello never.

 

The Bridge

Yeah, never comes around much more

than happy ever afters—

life sure gets more curious

the more I meet my nevers

 

Food Verse

I said I’d never eat mayonnaise

no potato chips for me.

I said I’d never eat fried food—

too many calories.

But deviled eggs taste fabulous,

and French fries even better.

Goodbye skinny waist and thighs

and hello, hello never.

 

Said I’d never write a country song

well hello, hello never.

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Some People Choose to Believe, Some Don’t

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on February 11, 2019| Leave a Comment »

 

 

The hope that is left after all your hopes are gone—that is pure hope, rooted in the heart.

            —Brother David Steindl-Rast

 

 

And so tonight when my daughter says to me,

Mom, are you Santa Claus? I ask her if it

would make a difference, and she says, Yes.

 

I don’t want him to just be a hoax for making

kids be good. And I say, I’ve never thought of Santa

that way. I think of him as generous. And magic.

 

And she says, But magic’s not real, and I say,

Some magic is. And she says, Well, it would

make sense. You always know what we want

 

because you’re the mom. And I tell her,

It is my great privilege to work for Santa,

and she says, What do you mean? And I say,

 

Well, you know, buying presents. And she says,

Why do you think he didn’t bring us a big present

this year, like he did last year? And I hear

 

in her voice, against all fact, hope,

the hope that lingers when hope is gone,

a pure hope, the hope that goodness is real,

 

that there is generosity beyond comprehension,

that some magic is real. She rolls over in the dark.

I keep hope rooted in my heart.

 

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