Essence
by Curt Hinkle
In my grandfather’s closet
I put my hands on the pole
That held his clothes
And tried to breathe
In his old house
Everything in order
All neat and in its place
There just didn’t seem to be any air
I’d left him in the living room
Kicked back in his chair
An old movie on the tube
He looked like he was napping
He’d left instructions
Living will
Power of attorney
DNR thumb tacked next to the front door
Everything in order
I’d done all I could think of
Still, I would wait
Less chance the ghouls would try to plug him in
And ventilate
Make him beep and sigh
Like some amplified frog
His body seemed smaller
Somehow
Now that he was gone
Waiting, hands on the closet pole
I hung my head and could smell his clothes
Not the cancer smell of the drugs
But him, his essence
A powerful human being
Sawdust and dried sweat
Wood smoke and whiskey
And some long ago lady’s perfume
Still there, impossibly
And I heard him laugh
That great bear laugh
His alone
And I heard him say, “Horseshit”
“That’s pure horseshit."
Fairy Queen With Green Collar
by Connie Shepard
Lovely little flower
hiding in the wood
your purple proclaims royalty
and that we should
respect your right of staying
in your place of birth,
at times hiding your offspring
deep within the earth.
Your heart-shaped leaves,
a deep and lustrous green,
shed water dropped upon them,
in a glistening stream
to feed your hidden seeds
waiting patiently for birth.
And yet I rush to find you
in the early Spring
to gather you in bunches
and break up your fairy ring. |
First Flight
Poem and Artwork by George Asdel
She wants us to jump
To fly to the stone birdbath
We have never flown
She must be out of her mind
She says it’s in her DNA
In the Name of Family
They have gone
The house rings with silence
When there were little
it all seemed never-ending
I miss the childish din
Now,
a quiet mourning
They brought stragglers in
whom we came to welcome
embrace, finally love
anguish each time they left
sadness,
all in the name of
family
When we were young
it seemed so right
to be alone
to ride that magic
carpet by ourselves
Now,
it tugs at the heart
Each one leaves in turn
and we must learn to
hear the silence once more
reacquaint ourselves
return to our quiet existence
As once we were
can never be
for in ensuing years we learned
so many hidden truths
our journey together alone
would be short-lived
for they were waiting
to crowd in
make our world
an existence we never dreamed
|
