We are all writing God’s poem…

“Poem on a Line by Anne Sexton, ‘We are All Writing God’s Poem’” by Barbara Crooker, from Line Dance. ©

Today, the sky’s the soft blue of a work shirt washed a thousand times. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. On the interstate listening to NPR, I heard a Hubble scientist say, “The universe is not only stranger than we think, it’s stranger than we can think.” I think I’ve driven into spring, as the woods revive with a loud shout, redbud trees, their gaudy scarves flung over bark’s bare limbs. Barely doing sixty, I pass a tractor trailer called Glory Bound, and aren’t we just? Just yesterday, I read Li Po: “There is no end of things in the heart,” but it seems like things are always ending?vacation or childhood, relationships, stores going out of business, like the one that sold jeans that really fit?

And where do we fit in? How can we get up in the morning, knowing what we do? But we do, put one foot after the other, open the window, make coffee, watch the steam curl up and disappear. At night, the scent of phlox curls in the open window, while the sky turns red violet, lavender, thistle, a box of spilled crayons.
The moon spills its milk on the black tabletop for the thousandth time.

Claire Affleck
Claire Affleck Training website
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October morning

The wind brings a wintry chill
and the sky is grey.
The pedestrian walk
is a bit slippery.
Is there a touch of snow
in the cold drizzle? Read more

A precious gift

Driving on Route 20 from East to West
mountain views in my sight.
Mountains tall and rugged,
so different from our Tuscan-like beauty. Read more

Positively Poetry

Just a little reminder that a group of us are meeting next Tuesday, October 21st at 7pm at the Manlius LIbrary’s Bookmark Cafe for some frighteningly fantastic poetry.  Bring your own spooky poems and some of your favorites by published authors, too.  All are welcome.

See ya then!

Jenny Skates
E-mail me

Jewel of the landscape

I look with wonder at this tiny fruit
that I could reach from my window
and pluck from its tree.

It is perfectly shaped and beautiful.
And the mystery that’s held inside
is a crab apple’s secret! Read more

Serenade

Last rays of sunshine
Hitting my corner bench
Pale ball of yellow Read more

Magic and calm

Overnight rain turning to drizzle
feeling like velvet on my skin.
Fog shrouding me everywhere Read more

How to play Hakai - a group poetry game

Haikai collaborative poetry (aka renku, or renga) has a long history in Japan, where it combines aspects of game-play with literature. Read more

“In Memoriam”

A poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson Read more