Jeanne Poland's Poetry Blog
03 May 2016 1 Comment
in I've Been Made, Poetry Tags: beauty, I've Been Made, Leaves and Blossoms, listen, maid, Mary Oliver, speak, staid, stayed, you are you
I’ve been maid
And I’ve been made.
I’ve been stayed
And I’ve been staid.
Some words God
will never speak.
(no matter how hard you listen)
Beauty can both
shout and whisper
(Still it says nothing)
You are you
and will always be you.
(made by Him)
“Some words God will never speak
no matter how hard you listen,”….
“Beauty can both shout and whisper.
Still it says nothing.
You are you and will always be you.”
Mary Oliver in Leaves and Blossoms Along the Way
02 May 2016 Leave a comment
in Poetry, Thunder Storms in Sullivan County Tags: all generations bow before beauty, forces of nature, grands explore the creek mysteries, hale, high-speed internet, Huddle under thunder, on Spring Break, rain, sun, sun-dappled creatures, sunny day in Austerlitz, Thunder Storms in Sullivan County, trees grab lichen, valley and mountains
A sunny day in Austerlitz on Spring Break
I huddle under thunder-hail
heated-with high-speed internet.
The grands explore the creek and its mysteries-
sun-dappled creatures swimming by.
Grand trees grab sun and lichen-
Grands celebrate forces of nature.
All generations bow before beauty
in the rain, sun, valley and mountains.
01 May 2016 1 Comment
in May Comes Our to Curtsy, Poetry Tags: bless us each, circle of humor, curtsy, E-mail to my sister in law, enduring listening, fatigue in your voice, healing, illustrator:Elizabeth Rose Stanton, motherly friends, patience
illustrator: Elizabeth Rose Stanton
E-mail to my sister in law:
I heard the fatigue in your voice on the phone when Don called.
All the Birthdays you hosted! The Tom healing…the Dad healing…all the grandchildren…Aunt Dotty…all the Wisconsin relatives….on and on and on.
Now it is May and Mother’s Day comes out to curtsy. You are not the mother who says “what’s for me?” but the one who says “what can I do for all my motherly friends?”
Are you not the mirror of your mother? Is that not what she did?
And both of you welcomed me, as a third care-taker? Relieved that a grown woman would take care of your brother.
The circle of humor, patience, good will, enduring listening.
Bless us each and all!
Jeanne
30 Apr 2016 Leave a comment
in Poetry, Saying Goodbye to jch in 2016 Tags: biodegradables, clutter, grasping spirit, Hedaiaj, I won't give you something, I'm there, Quicksilver, Saying Goodbye to jch in 2016, to remember me by, you're letting go of gravity
Saying Goodbye in 2016
I won’t give you something
to remember me by;
you’re letting go of
gravity
clutter
biodegradables.
grasping
spirit
spirits
spirited
compatibles.
I’m
there.
quicksilver 4/30/2016
29 Apr 2016 Leave a comment
in Accept What Comes From Silence, Poetry Tags: Accept What Comes From Silence, eternity sculpt its tribute, How To Be A Poet, silence ruffle your feathers, the vast diminish you, Wendell Berry
let
the vast
diminish you;
the silence
ruffle your feathers;
eternity
sculpt its tribute
on your face.
Accept what comes from silence.
Make the best you can of it.
Of the little words that come
out of the silence, like prayers
prayed back the one who prays,
make a poem that does not disturb
the silence from which it came.
Wendell Berry
in “How to Be a Poet”
final stanza added on in New Collected Poems
28 Apr 2016 Leave a comment
in Last Things in Particular, Poetry Tags: Almanac, Last Things in Particular, light clinging to the window, Linda Pastan
The Almanac of Last Things
From the almanac of last things
I choose the spider lily
for the grace of its brief
blossom, though I myself
fear brevity,
but I choose The Song of Songs
because the flesh
of those pomegranates
has survived
all the frost of dogma.
I choose January with its chill
lessons of patience and despair–and
August, too sun-struck for lessons.
I choose a thimbleful of red wine
to make my heart race,
then another to help me
sleep. From the almanac
of last things I choose you,
as I have done before.
And I choose evening
because the light clinging
to the window
is at its most reflective
just as it is ready
to go out.
Linda Pastan
(from Carnival Evening:
New and Selected Poems 1968-1998)
27 Apr 2016 Leave a comment
in Lullabies, Poetry Tags: breathe, hum its home song, let go, lilt its rocking swing, lullaby, soothe its little one, sounds of bells
lullaby
let go
breathe
listen to tibetan bowl
hum its home song
lilt its rocking swing
soothe its little one.
26 Apr 2016 Leave a comment
in Become a Tree, Poetry Tags: Become a Tree, emotion pushes sap, petal's petticoats, the storms of emotion, Thich Nhat Hanh, tips bloom pink green
Be a tree in the storms of emotion.
Thich Nhat Hanh.
e
motion
pushes sap
tips bloom pink green
petals’ petticoats
25 Apr 2016 Leave a comment
in My Bridge, Poetry Tags: awaiting, cross daily, dark steps, denial behind, light washes, My Bridge, reaching down his hand, recovery, redemption, sin, smallsteps, towards the light, upbeat
The Bridge
My Bridge
sin is on the far side
recovery, near
dark steps, the beginning;
light washes the end
take small steps:
upbeat, cross daily
towards the light
awaiting; denial behind
o’er the bridge, redemption
reaching down His Hand
24 Apr 2016 Leave a comment
in "Awake My Soul", Poetry Tags: "Awake My Soul", Are all my body parts working?, I command small measure of my blood and bones, illustrator:Demelsa Houghton, Lord, Lord commands me to the transformation of his creation, what do you want me to hear?
illustrator: Demelsa Houghton
Awake my soul!
When I awake I ask:
“Are all body parts working?”
When I should ask:
“Lord, what do You want me to hear?”
For I command
small measure of my blood and bones.
And Lord
commands me to the transformation of His creation.
The Vibrant Channeled Creator 