~Amy Gerstler
I am typing this while having a bit of vertigo. (Ugh!) It's Wednesday morning, so I should be feeling better by the time you read this! My gosh I hope so. I have things to do! Graduations to watch! Poetry by Amy Gerstler today.
(Updated to add that I felt better in time to drive someone to the airport later that morning. Yay for quick turnarounds! No time to feel bad around here, for sure.)
An excerpt from Hoffnung
by Amy Gerstler
...If mother earth only knew how much we
loved one another she would creak, shudder,
and split like a macheted melon, releasing
the fiery ball of molten hope at her core.
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Advice from a Caterpillar
by Amy Gerstler
Chew your way into a new world.
Munch leaves. Molt. Rest. Molt
again. Self-reinvention is everything.
Spin many nests. Cultivate stinging
bristles. Don’t get sentimental
about your discarded skins...
read the rest here
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photo by Elke Mader
Bon Courage
By Amy Gerstler
Why are the woods so alluring? A forest appears
to a young girl one morning as she combs
the dreams out of her hair. The trees rustle
and whisper, shimmer and hiss. The forest
opens and closes, a door loose on its hinges,
banging in a strong wind. Everything in the dim
kitchen: the basin, the jug, the skillet, the churn,
snickers scornfully. In this way a maiden
is driven toward the dangers of a forest,
but the forest is our subject, not this young girl.
read the rest here
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Another poem by Amy Gerstler: Dear Reader
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Michelle Kogan has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Michelle!
9 comments:
Thanks for sharing these poems by Amy Gerstler, I liked her "Advice from a Caterpillar" and the line "Self-reinvention is everything" I'll have to remember this. And I like the conversations in the forest in "Bon Courage."
Happy you are better, Tabatha. The poems stir my need to 'get out'. Because of recent articles about trees and their communication, the forest words were intriguing. That poor sapling all a twitter! I am always reading, so that final poem brought a smile. Thanks for all. Happy graduation! Is it soon?
Glad you're feeling better. Vertigo is the worst!
Thanks for the Amy poems (she's new to me). I especially like "Bon Courage."
"Don't get sentimental about your discarded skins." Going to write that one down.
I really needed to read "advice from a caterpillar" today. Thanks!
Appreciations for my intro to Amy Gester.
I followed the link to finish Instructions for a Caterpillar' & am still laughing!. For the moment,
will try to not look at the others you have from her, in case they aren't funny.
I need to keep thinking in this joyful way.
More thank you, dear Tabatha
xox
Jan
I'm so glad you're feeling better. I have only experienced vertigo a few times, but it was incapacitating. Thank you so much for introducing me to Amy Gerstler! I can't begin to choose a favorite from the treasures you've shared. Maybe it's "the fiery ball of molten hope at her core." I need to reread all of these poems and ponder their wisdom.
Another thank you note for introducing me/us to Amy Gerstler! I lost my first six black swallowtail caterpillars to predators (oh WHY didn't I bring them inside?!?!), but hope has appeared in the form of an egg on the dill which is now in a small glass on the kitchen table where I can keep watch through all the stages!
Dear Reader made me wish for an entire anthology of poems addressed to the reader!
Glad you are feeling better. Thank you for sharing these poems. I keep changing my mind on which is my favorite, but I think (at least for now) I'll settle on the forest one you end with. I certainly hear the call of the forest.
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