This poem was published in January, 2018 in the Colorado Independent and included in the Columbine Poets of Colorado 40th Anniversary Anthology. It seems particularly relevant to the times in which we find ourselves.
MIRROR WORDS
A new year starts
appearing as a blank slate,
but its history is already written
in the dust of treaties,
land-mine refuse of war,
increased opulence of the rich,
skinny-ribbed orphan’s unheard, “Mama,”
refugee’s grasp for a grain of rice.
All written on a mirror
so we read it backwards
and never quite
understand.
The following poem was published in the Hartford Courant some time in the 1960 or early 1970s, I think. I have improved as a poet since those days, but I still find this haunting and can remember the specific circumstances in which I wrote it, even the dress.
PATTERN of NIGHT
The scarecrow shaped shadow moves ahead
bumping the goldenrod.
Pattern of night, shake yourself out.
A cloth-covered woman steps forward
feeling the sound of wind.
Pattern of night blow yourself out.
My arms and billowing dress
play with their shadow,
my body feels more than dry wind,
tonight I am enchanted
as the unicorn comes out to dance with me
while night patterns float together—
disappearing mist.
I am particularly fond of W.S. Merwin’s poetry, not to mention his work in restoring native habitat in Hawaii. This poem, another favorite of mine, seems fitting for ending a year. I wrote it within the last decade. It was never published.
WORN WORDS
Merwin wrote, “it is the late poems
that are made of words
that have come the whole way.”
Yes, in these late years
we turn to those worn words
those words that have traveled with us
bringing light, darkness in turn
the days and nights of life
grown old, tired, with frayed edges
but meaning is there
in them we find peace,
those faithful worn words.