This year, I am participating in the August Poetry Postcard Fest. Each day for the month of August, I will be writing a new poem on a postcard and sending it out to a poet from a list of 31 I obtained from the organizers. This is even better than a message in a bottle. I know my poem will be read by a poet. In turn, I will receive 31 poems, written by 31 different poets living in all parts of the world.
I will be posting my poems here, a few at a time. I am sending a combination of purchased post cards and home made ones, created from photos my husband or I have taken. Where I have made a card, I have posted the photo next to the poem it inspired.
These poems are written 'on the spot', organically, so represent first thought/first draft.
August 1, 2008
I am not armored
like the turtle. My skin
is permeable to possibilities,
a membrane too porous
to shut out starlight, dust
from an ancient ashfall,
the taint of pesticide,
disappointment. Today, clarity.
Water pearls at my feet.
I can breathe.
August 2, 2008
Nectar drunk, bees lurch
from bloom to bloom. We eat
the fruits of their awkward labor--
alchemy of tilled earth,
air, fire, water. Such an ordinary
magic. Tomatoes blush
for your attention. You split
one pole to pole, each seed a ruby
suspended in its own raindrop,
each seed a renewal of your vow.
August 3, 2008
"Post No Bills"
lost dog
reward help
wanted for sale
best offer moving
back home to save
rent this apartment
sunny bedroom
deck parking space
wanted new used
car is this
your dog?
August 4, 2008
When you were small
you laid bricks on bricks, leggos
on leggos, towers reaching
taller than your mark
on the doorframe's edge.
Each night I would wield
the wrecking ball, scatter
pieces to plactic tubs, pile
sanded rectangles in neat stacks.
All that time, I was building, too,
a jumble of prayer stones, memorial
to transience, to possibility,
to the builder's art.
Hi! If you want to keep in touch after this poetry fest, please do. Glad that you posted from the project. It was a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteLynn Alexander