Na/GloPoWriMo Day 22 Conversation with Self

 The Crow Dilemma

I woke with a crow standing on the pillow next to my head
telling me what to do. Caw! Get up and make me some french fries.
After breakfast, my jet black feathered friend said to me
Go out into your day knowing the only forces
that matter are elemental. Also if you pay attention
you might figure out how to fly instead of wasting
all your time avoiding the work you know you have
to do.So I paid attention but could never quite figure
out the flying part, and kept avoiding work. Crow
was disappointed but not surprised. So he built
a roost in the rafters and summoned the whole extended
family to move in. Sometimes I hear him above the racket
scolding me a little, reminding me not to fall for his tricks.

Na/GloPoWriMo Day 21 They Called Me

 They Called Me

Moose, Jr.

like Gretchen

a big boxy girl

who lived up 

the street, Moose,

The Bigger, she's

a brick house

mighty mighty

I was Moose,

The Shorter

a younger version

just as chubby 

they said

I let it all hang out

became Lizzie

after my Confirmation name

Saint Elizabeth they

chanted Lizzie is a Lezzie

at summer camp but

we all were then

and when I went out

as a short-haired 

boy in a ballcap

I'd be Lee for no 

reason except 

it was shorter

my last first name

syllable spelt wrong

on purpose to be familiar

a beloved blue jeans brand

or else it would be L-i-e

and nobody wants

to be called that

in Spanish class

I was Leanna which

wasn't Spanish but

something I'd invented

to sound that way

and passing notes

with Nancy was I Star

or Moon or was she?

My many names nest one

inside another

matryoshka-ed

self-contained

Na/GloPoWrMo Day 20 Animal

 

Na/GloPoWriMo Day 19 A Flower Poem

 

Na/GloPoWriMo Day 18 Adventure Song Snippet

Among the Folk

small creatures only some may see

dance beneath the gold oak tree

and sing of dreams

and longings

small creatures may be creaturely

and shape themselves mysteriously

to sing of dreams

and longings

such creatures dance inside our dreams

bright in our imaginings

they sing our dreams

and longings

Na/GloPoWriMo Day 17 Poem Responding to a Favorite Poem

T

To Elizabeth

"The art of losing isn’t hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster."

                            Elizabeth Bishop

I saw the movie of your tragic love affair

with Lota, and my friend said I look

like the actress who played her but

more than resemblance I wished

for a lover-patroness like her who would build

me a little house on a Brazilian hillside

because she loved my poems and by proxy

me and, like you, I'd be swept off my

feet but would soon be chafing against

ag   all trappings (see how that works) of

       love, how I always have done, all         

       these years, make a trick of my heart,  

or    take a fake stance perhaps to keep

       me at a loss when it comes

       to love's trappings

    

    t  

of 

I

I

Na/GloPoWriMo Day 16 Nature as Teacher

 

Bosque

green breath 

rooted and reaching 

small mammals burrowed by day

bowered creatures aloft

beetles and bees

moths and

salamanders

and creek water

sunlight sometimes

starlight sometimes

a slice of moon

the deepest forest speaks

satisfaction

itself

complete