fine poetry to turn your world around
Elegy for a Pine TreeThe pine stressed by droughtdied last summer. Beetles attacked,bored holes through the bark.Here, in chilly air, its branches shedtheir copper needles. Pointy pompomsdrop from scaly limbs. No spearmint spikesflicker through the winter,but pitch tubes dot the trunk—sticky clusters of popcorn sapthe tree expelled, an attempt to blockthe beetles from the inner […]
Don’t Make it Difficult I like sad songs—death, longing and love wrapped in bubblegumMost sing along blind—swaying hips, tapping toesunaware they’re in the throes Not long ago I was doing a random writing prompt search one afternoon and came across the following- Prompt: Playing with word meanings (https://nadjamaril.com/2024/10/14/creative-writing-playing-with-word-meanings/) The word I chose was bubblegum. I’ve […]
Translation from Imaginary YiddishNight, say somethingI’m awake as well in my house in my usual bed with my usual bad right leg.At four o’clock in the morning my heart beats in its usual fashion if only it were a door knobto open everything.Salt on the sidewalk in winter salt on the garden slugs in spring […]
A Million Tender Somethings After “For My People” by Margaret Walker AlexanderFor those whose blurting out to heaven never ceases, the self-critics who blame themselves for every failure, for this biggest failure;For the prodded and piped and pained who remain with-echo;For those who bought themselves a coffee after the OBGYN, after the fertility specialist, after […]
