Friday, November 25, 2016

All those cycles of the seasons

The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been.
~Madeleine L'Engle



Bookshop El Ateneo, photo by Josefina

Three poems from Women's Voices for Change: Redefining Life after Forty.

Used Book
by Julie Kane

What luck—an open bookstore up ahead
as rain lashed awnings over Royal Street,
and then to find the books were secondhand,
with one whole wall assigned to poetry;
and then, as if that wasn’t luck enough,

read the rest here

********

Word Pond
by Susan Kolodny

Go back, past the curtain of details, the wall
of chores, the grimy surfaces that obscure.
Go around the corners, under the broken fence,
crawl if you have to over moss, snail
slime, climb up the uneven hills

read the rest here

********

Her Art
by LaWanda Walters

I’d like to cry on Elizabeth Bishop’s shoulder.
I lost my mother’s engagement ring, for one thing.
Not your fault, she’d say. So much seems to want
to be lost. Even if, one day, in anger or grief
you threw it across the room or placed it somewhere
safe, the fact is, now, it’s gone. Just read my poem.

Remember? My mother’s watch was in that poem.
My losses are famous. Don’t cry on anyone’s shoulder—
even if I were available, I’m lost somewhere.

read the rest here

********

Carol's Corner has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Carol!

12 comments:

Ruth said...

What a great find! I enjoyed all three of these.

Mary Lee said...

A fabulous trio! Did you gasp out loud when the lost watch was found in another poem? I did!! And I snorted with laughter at the end of the first. Thank you for this mini anthology of loss and discovery!

Irene Latham said...

Ha! I have experienced both the delight and disappointment in that first poem. :) Thank you, Tabatha! I'm so grateful to know you! xo

Linda Mitchell said...

Oh, my. I was a bit unprepared for the truth of these three poems. Wow. Thank you for these words I will revisit. My word pond. It is behind the curtain of details, under the fence and down in the vines. I long for it....and yet when I have a chance to visit, I don't treat it like the gold that it is. Thank you so much for these poems.

Jane @ Raincity Librarian said...

"So much seems to want to be lost" - such beautiful words, simple yet so evocative.

Thank you for sharing these.

Tara said...

Walters' poem really spoke to me...just beautiful.

Linda B said...

Oh my, Tabatha. Growing older means many small moments, some lament, and some with a trickle of laughter, at oneself. I will bookmark this site. The three poems you chose have a pull like others do not. Thank you!

Carmela Martino said...

Love the L'Engle quote you open this post with. What a selection of poems. "Word Pond" spoke to me especially, and I was intrigued by how that poem came to be. Thanks so much for sharing!

Violet N. said...

Enjoyed all three (but especially Kane)! Women's Voices for Change looks like a fascinating publication to follow. Thanks for another interesting resource, Tabatha.

Heidi Mordhorst said...

Oh, I have overeaten again: a little too much luck for the first course, slipping into the breaking depth of the word pond, and then finishing with not just one slice of dessert but one of each: grief and loss and want. Thanks, Tabatha! Hope you're enjoying cozy, fascinating family time.

(Daisy sent in UCBerkeley last night; Boston U today. We sorted out the finances and kind of know where we stand. Yikes.)

Brenda at FriendlyFairyTales said...

Oh, ouch! The ending of Used Book is a zinger. Great stuff in these poems. Thanks for sharing.

GatheringBooks said...

Used Book is my favourite. Love all these poems, dearest Tabatha!