Poem-a-day catchup

[greenstorm]

Poem-a-day was completed with 61 posted, and maybe 75 pages of scribbling. I'll dribble the poems out here as I have time and energy. It was a super enjoyable experience!


#43

Some people love like water
Some people love like stone
Some love finds each nook and cranny
Is etched upon every bone
Some love shines bright all in full view
And stands forever enthroned
Some people’s love goes wandering
Or cherishes secret and unknown
Or floats far and wide upon the air
Some people’s love is made to roam
Some people’s love seeks out new lands
Some people’s love stays home

#44 You have news for me.

Compassion for living things
Is as human as killing.
It’s only natural to protect
Precious creatures
From a rending death,
From murder before maturity
From a life only as
An unseen commodity
Chopped up for dinner
And eaten in front of the TV
With little thought.
Deny it all you want
The impulse is common
And after all, who among us
Has not rescued
A sprouting onion
Placed it in the ground
And let it complete
Its floral life in freedom?


#45

There are four of us bent over our pottery
Speaking casually to each other.
I let my fingers trail carelessly through the clay
Mentioning, as he polishes his bowl,
That the oldest human fingerprint we have
Was left on a clay statue
Over twenty-five thousand years ago.
It’s not a bad way to be remembered, I say.

Later that day he calls me “fingerprints”
Some people would take it as mocking
But it’s a glow of acknowledgement that leads me
Like a whisper from twenty five thousand years ago
To dip my hand into ineradicable red
And grasp the bowl
With my fingertips.


#46

I’m sorry I’m not ashamed of the blue stains in my shower
The dye in my hair makes me so happy

I’m sorry there’s dirt on the livingroom floor;
I was transplanting baby plants and got up to take them outside
Then got swept up in the sunshine

I’m sorry I don’t see you more regularly
The rhythm of the seasons is important to me and my garden needed planting

I’m sorry there’s cat hair at the margins of the room
The cats come curl up on me of an evening and we all get too sleepy to clean

I’m sorry the blanket smells like dog;
It comforts me: the dog and the blanket

I’m sorry my dishes don’t match
I started making myself a set but lost access to the pottery studio
And didn’t want to throw out the ones I’d made

I’m sorry I can’t feed you strawberries
It’s December and I feel moved to eat this squash I grew with my own hands
And I feel bad for the workers who grew those strawberries

I’m sorry my back door is cluttered
It’s a waystation for so many creatures and activities that are never finished

I’m sorry I won’t stay sorry longer
I’m too busy enjoying myself


#47 Jackie from insurance

She came running out after me
Out of the office where she worked
My name floating across the parking lot
She wore proper perfume and everything.
From behind the office window
She’d caught a glimpse of me
And just wanted me to know–
There were some costs and benefits
To the complicated paperwork
And she wanted to explain
This might be better for you
Or that might, here’s how,
No pressure,
Just wanted to make sure you were
Clear,
Informed
Taken care of.
When I get home there’s an email
A list of resources:
Contacts in a small town
That might be cheaper or more reliable
To get the work done.

A day later I’m still thinking about it,
Nothing romantic,
Nothing fancy,
Just someone going out of her way
To help
Because she wanted to.

A day later I’m still thinking
It might be ok.

Comments

[yarrowkat]

i especially like the fingerprints poem! that is both a potent thought and a vivid visual. the first poem is especially nice, too.