~Gloria Steinem
Happy Poetry Friday! Three poems today. Topics include: aging, friendship, being yourself, taking care of the natural world. "Trust a Woman with Many Jars" seems like it could make a good mentor poem.
Talking Like This
by Kathryn Hunt
— for Andrea
A cold wind blew in gusts that caught
the root-hold of the firs. Clouds fled across the sky
and I felt empty, free of myself, just walking.
The way the trees leaned and circled, tossing
their long branches like a woman whose had
enough might toss away something she loves.
Or a horse might toss its head,
meaning I am dangerous.
A few doors down men were putting up
a wall with their nail guns and saws.
Ladders, bags of sand all over the yard.
How satisfying that must feel, to stand back
at the end of the day and admire a house
you’ve made in the company of others.
To be of practical use, like a frying pan.
Don’t fall off your ladders, I shouted...
read the rest here
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Trust a Woman with Many Jars
by Mackenzie Berry
Who cooks well for only herself—
who makes tomato jam & falls out at the taste of a ground cherry.
Trust a woman who can cast a spell on you but doesn’t.
Who studies carpentry, who can work a saw.
Trust a woman who likes soup. Who can clean a fish.
Who you can weep into & still looks you in the eye.
Who says, Miss Baby...
read the rest here
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Things I Tell Colleen
by Samantha DeFlitch
The Virginia opossum was admitted for severe burns
caused by a third alarm house fire that barely grazed
the surface of the morning news. Carelessness, intention—
the fire’s cause matters zip to the opossum who was
delivered to the rescue center with eleven joeys clinging
to the blistered fur of her back, like a life loaded up with
sick aunts, lunchbox duty, scribbled notes from a brother—
all of us attached to these clutching, sacred things. Fire
is fire to all animals...
read the rest here
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The Miss Rumphius Effect has the Poetry Friday round-up. Thanks, Tricia!
15 comments:
Such a powerful poem with telling images by Kathryn Hunt. And and equally strong and moving poem from Samantha DeFlitch, "I hold a single lamp
to the floorboards of my life"–having us pay attention and take notice, thanks for all Tabatha!
I am having all kinds of feels reading your post today, Tabatha, from your sweet pup pics (boy I miss my Smidgey) and the poetry you shared.
Yes, 'trust a woman'! If only...
DeFlitch's poem title drew me in (my eldest is Colleen) but the thought of that opossum lingers. An unknown/invisible resident of the fire torn structure. She was rescued, but was also the rescuer (11 joeys!). "Fire is fire to all animals..." Thank you. :)
I loved all of the poems you shared, dear Tabatha.
The one I resonated with most of all were the first few lines of your post - the one by Gloria Steinem:
"Women may be the one group that grows more radical with age."
I find that I no longer tolerate bullshit at my age.
Enjoy your weekend!
It feels as if you've given us poems to carry us through these fractured times, Tabatha. I love seeing your sleeping, feeling safe, pets. The first poem took me straight to a female cousin who early in her life began to build things, outfitted a wood-working room, and began in the midst of so many who made fun, telling her she would cut off a finger, a hand, an arm, shouldn't even start. She has built decks, tables, and on, and still people are amazed. She's a female after all! Thanks for the cozy feel of the words on being a woman: "Trust a Woman with Many Jars"!
"... who can cast a spell on you but doesn't"
LOVE THAT
Trust a Woman with Many Jars is such a celebration of the power in being able to do things. I often think about that, how true is is. These poems were all fabulous and new to me. Thanks, Tabatha!
clutching sacred things
a house you've made in the company of others
These are prompts all by themselves! Your posts are always rich with possibility, Tabatha.
Thanks for so many wonderful poems, Tabatha. I especially liked "Trust a Woman with Many Jars." A treasure trove of goodness here!
The "Trust a Woman with Many Jars" poem was a gem! Thank you for sharing!
Ooh!! Agree that "Trust a Woman" is an excellent mentor poem!! Thank you for another exercise for the poetry group!
Tabatha, I read your post before I went to church tonight, and "Trust a Woman With Many Jars" became my inspiration for tomorrow's Slice of Life. That is one powerful poem. Thank you for these poem gifts tonight. (I can't read the third one yet because I get error messages. I'll keep trying.) Here's my poem in case you want to read it. https://mrsdkrebs.edublogs.org/2024/03/29/fear-a-narcissist-with-many-jars/
What a trio of poems! Thanks!
I found myself checking to see how I measured up in to "Trust a Woman With Many Jars." You are right about using that poem for a mentor text. Off to give it a go...
(And that possum mama. Oof.)
What a powerful collection of poems you've shared here, Tabatha! I was especially moved by "Things I Tell Colleen", by the fire-blistered possum, and the line " I must be more than these days of single focus,
unattentive, stumbling recklessly in the rapid dark." I need to sit with each of these poems longer. Thank you.
I salute you, dear friend, for being one of the people who actually reads poems published at online journals--huzzah! "Trust a Woman with Jars" was my favorite, and yes, it made me want to write something similar.
Oh, that DeFlitch poem. This "unattentive, stumbling recklessly in the rapid dark" is too close to a description of me...
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