Thursday, May 30, 2019

Out Loud

There stands a fat robin
on the limestone rocks
outside the window.
And on the tip of the
highest branch of
the peach tree
sits a hummingbird
that rises to do
a sky dance and settles
back down again.
There now is
a rusty red fox so casually
trotting down the
driveway into the
forest of words on my page.
How can these works of
nature make
my heart flutter up like
a single flapping wing?
Here I go again saying
this flower and that tree
or that whinnying pony
make me  so happy.
Isn’t it enough that I’ve
marveled and swelled
before and before that?
Is it necessary to do
ii one time more?
But that’s like saying
I prayed last Wednesday
and so I won’t open my mouth
again today or tomorrow
or next week.
Poetry rides in the flow
of blood that curses
through my veins.
It speaks in the
wind that tosses
the leaves
and blows the clouds
this way
and that.
It’s a matter
of
everyday
life
saying itself
out loud.

Monday, May 20, 2019

My Paintings on Display at 510 Warren Street in Hudson, New York

Some of my paintings will be on display for the month of June at 510 Warren Street in Hudson, N.Y.

The gallery is located in the heart of downtown Hudson and represents the work of artists from the Hudson Valley, New York City and Berkshire County.



The opening reception will be Saturday, June 1, from 3 to 6 p.m. I hope you will join me and several other artists working in diverse media and stylistic approaches.



Saturday, May 18, 2019

What Ways Are There to Celebrate May?

In the meadow this morning are three horses brown white and grey
and today they are playing and whinnying and galloping and they just don’t stop
and
I think to
myself it must be
that they are feeling like me enveloped in the
warmth and
beauty
of spring.
What ways are there to celebrate May?
The dance of the hummingbirds lighting at the feeder

The sprouting of bleeding heart in the garden
The sudden appearance of a messy birds’ nest above the porch light
(with threads of blue twisted into the mix of brown twigs and grass.)
It’s just the most beautiful spring day
It is warmth and breeze and sunlight 
and a sky of blue crystalline perfection.
And whinny I would if I could to say a humble thank you God
for bringing me to this day to this season to all of my blessings
a house
my health
my grandchild
my husband
my children
my puppy dog
two sisters and a brother
a father and a mother in law
my dear friend Sharon
and on and on and on
like the endless shush and whisper of wind
the sweet twitter of birds
the scarlet tanager I saw with my very own eyes
oh and thanks too for these eyes
which help me to behold  
life and creation and bliss
and hands to write this
this poem.
Amen.

Dedicated to Mary Marino and Sharon Flitterman-King, two AMAZING human beings..

Tuesday, May 14, 2019

How It Feels and How to Change It

Ask me how it feels and I’ll say
Do you really want to know and
then I’ll tell you:
there’s a swamp rotting away in my gut,
and it’s flooded with something like gasoline
and yes, it will explode into flames if I
touch it with a match. Or, imagine this:
I’m a bear with raw bloody flesh hanging from
my vicious incisors. I shake my head and stare at
you with a savage look in my eyes.
My claws are poised to rip off your face.

Yeah, so, ok, I think that covers the emotions
scissoring through my chest this morning.
Enough of that. Now try this:
Inhale. Close your eyes and take the air
way down deep into your pelvis
and then keep it going until it fills your legs and feet.
HOLD YOURSELF FULL OF BREATH UNTIL
YOU THINK YOU MIGHT POP.
AND THEN DO ANOTHER BREATH
AND ANOTHER AND ANOTHER.
And don’t stop until you are
breathing calmly.

Now open your eyes and look out the
window at that itty bitty hummingbird
sitting on top of the shephard’s
hook. Gaze out into the lush green meadow
where the two brown horses are lazy grazing,
their tails switching.
Then stare at the red tulips and the pale
yellow daffodils in the garden.
Close your eyes again and type the word
SUN SUN SUN SUN SUN SUN SUN
SUN SUN SUN SUN SUN SUN SUN SUN
Until you can see it make everything glow.

Remember this:
there are going to be
moments
so ravaging, so
difficult
you won’t
know how
to move
forward.
So don’t even try.
Just let your (s)words
fall into warm seafoam waters.
Lie back and float on the calm blue seas that
you create out of your own stanzas.
Be grateful that you have a basket full of
four-color images ready
inside your head
and whenever you want to
you can
pour them out on paper
until the crisis passes.