Common Threads

 

A Very Mary Variation 

Using line 1 borrowed from Mary Oliver’s “The Invitation”

Windows in Europe

it could mean something

I’d flown to Europe for a weekend teacher conference 

somehow my parents met me there – 

Dad, who’s living 

and Mom, who’s not 

oh, but she pays her visits 

my dogs showed up,

too, there in Europe 

Fitz and Boo Radley

I had to reschedule

my flight to extend my stay – so I couldn’t fly home with her

but Dad asked if I wanted to see some windows

of course I did- there may be a message in them for me

we got on a bus and ended up at the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre, overlooking Paris from a high elevation

I recognized the little café 

on the Rue de 

(Something in French) across the way – La Cremaillere 1900 

where I’d eaten some bland 

baked chicken 

and potato rounds 

in June 2019

we took a walk up some steps to an ice cream shop called Big Sur

where dogs were allowed inside

I wondered if Boo’s poodle heritage had anything to do with it 

and sat at a dirty table,

my parents and I 

the waitress took my order – 

but I didn’t know the flavor lineup so I picked chocolate mousse – 

but the waitress kept getting everything switched 

actually gave me my mousse 

(I took a couple of bites) 

and then gave it to my mother

then gave me someone’s bowl of Rice Krispies? they’d started

 

I tried to take a sip of water but it was someone else’s glass 

so the waitress snatched it away from me

and brought a container of milky ice cream water for me 

saying that should work for now

and in all this 

I watched a girl jump with a parachute from a high cliff 

and waited until nearly 

hitting the ground 

before pulling the string 

and landing fine

I never saw any interesting windows to speak of 

but I ate every last one of my Rice Krispies and drank the milk

and Mom shook her head and looked at me as if I should make a better choice than to eat like

that

when we left I gave her a bag she’d forgotten 

making sure Dad

knew I had recovered it 

embarrassing Mom, but letting him know to watch out for her 

we got separated at a bus stop,

but the brief visit was nice –

probably a good window 

of Melatonin

dreams like these let me know she’s still here

 

A Very Mary Variation

A Pantoum poem of expanding lines using the first four lines of Mary Oliver’s “It Was Early”

Awakening

it was early

which has always been my hour

to begin looking

at the world

early has always been my hour

reading, writing, listening, thinking

about the world, awakening

to a new day filled with possibilities

books, pens, ears, mind

changing lenses and filters on the world

new possibilities in the darkroom

watching as images emerge

changing lenses, filters, angles on the world 

seeking with open eyes, open arms, open ears, open mind

through eyes not merely mine

it was early – the hour of awakening 

 

A Very Mary Variation

Morning Mists

in the morning shower

where I think vividly 

whenever I open the ponderous book of riddles

I wonder things

like whether the sweat beads of the night are the mists of 

dreams that tried to cling

if tearful prayer is like a lane into heaven that leads from a dream

then is there any wonder that a steamy shower is like a vaporizing thought quencher? 

Lines borrowed 

from Mary Oliver 

 “The Dipper” – whenever I open the ponderous book of riddles

From Sidney Lanier “The Marshes of Glynn”  – like a lame into heaven that leads from a dream 

 

A Very Mary Variation

First line borrowed from Mary Olivers’s poem “I Don’t Want to Lose”

The Wind

Just now, a moment from years ago: 

a snapshot from Timehop- proudly smiling you in a too-big necktie 

a blanket that tucked you night-tight and kept the hug warm 

a can of monster and robber spray – for peaceful sleep

a picture you painted – “the wind” 

memories,  fleeting just like that wind 

and a Bible verse-

God doesn’t want us to worry

Matthew 6:25-33

 

A Very Mary Variation

I used a borrowed line from Mary Oliver’s poem “Beans” as my final line today, describing yesterday morning

Something Watches 

a hideous cry pierced the dark silence of the early October morning 

a sound 

not unlike 

the screech of a barn owl 

or 

the shriek of a bobcat 

or 

the scream of a red fox 

I knew I had seen the last of the old hen 

something -I can’t name it-watches

 Today’s writing host, Susan Ahlbrand, challenged us to write a poem that forces us to look at the world or something in it in a different way. I borrowed my first and last lines from Mary Oliver – the first from “I Looked Up,” and the last from “Wild, Wild.” 

Heartwarmed

I looked up and there it was – 

left on a re-purposed junk mail envelope on the kitchen counter 

by my coffee cup

a love note 

scribbled 

in his handwriting 

with his always-handy 

shirt pocket pen

from when he left to go to work 

and sitting on top:

a cattywampus-shaped 

York Peppermint Pattie

in its silver wrapper 

the size of a half-dollar 

I could already taste the sensation –

the dark chocolate and mint swirling together 

the perfect pair of flavors 

his note read: 

because I love you 

I saved this just for you 

much love 

hope you have a wonderful Wednesday

(and an exclamation with a heart as the point)

I took a quick snapshot and texted him to say 

thanks

that was so sweet of you

I love you too

be safe 

but then received a minor confession: 

sorry –  

I carried it in my shirt pocket and 

it melted a little bit

I felt my heart stir 

as I gazed 

at the imperfect York 

seeing it much differently now 

than I had before

and after a tearful moment

I replied: 

all the better 

it’s literally heart warmed 

from you to me 

he quipped back:

that’s true 

better than my back pocket, I guess 

this is what love is

 

Susan Ahlbrand challenged us with a fun new form today! A Tritina – a trio of tercets with a final line that stands alone, where the ending words in each line are ordered 1,2,3 in the first tercet; 3,1,2 in the second, 2,3,1 in the third, and the final line containing the 1,2,3 order anywhere in the stand-alone line. I began my Tritina with two borrowed lines and one twisted line from “Mink” by Mary Oliver: 

Melting

the pink sun fading away to the edge
for me, it was the gift of the winter
which was still in its frozen coat of snow

a plaid-flanneled husband, scarfed in the snow
a wife watching warmly from window’s edge
of the woods’ balsamy-scented winter 

a crackling-hardwood-fire cabin winter
where rugged muscles chop wood in the snow
to keep the fires burning-(love on the edge!)

passion’s edge in winter melts hearts of snow!

-kim johnson

 

Anna J. Roseboro issued a challenge to write a five-finger exercise verse today by taking a word for a walk. To write this, I chose a concept noun and created five six-word lines, with the chosen abstract word appearing as the title, then in each line as word 2,3,4,5,6 in that order. In keeping with my month of Mary Oliver, I borrowed the first line from her poem “Six Recognitions of the Lord.”

Mercy! 

Lord, mercy is in your hands. 

Lavish your mercy liberally upon us.

Let streams of mercy quell long-suffering 

labors as we your mercy beseech. 

Lord, we languish without your mercy!

– kim Johnson with a nudge from Mary

 

A Very Mary Variation of Allusion

How Well Do You Know Me?

if you are 

reading this blog

you should know 

that of all 

the poetic lines 

I love in this world

-and there are plenty-

very near the top 

of my list 

is the one 

that asks what it is 

that I plan to do

with my one wild and precious life

Borrowed lines taken from

these poems of Mary Oliver:

“If You are Holding This Book”

“The Summer Day”

 

A Very Mary  Variation

I gathered lines from the poems of Mary Oliver and rearranged them

into this Bodies in Motion verse:

Unreachable 

eager for action 

running here,running there 

when in motion 

hardly able to stop, he leaps, he spins 

leaps and dives up and down 

time is draining from the clock

running forward 

without a backward glance

unreachable 

   *    *    *    *

all the way home 

limping, lumbering 

perfectly finished

Taken from these poems, in this order: 

“Percy Wakes Me”

“The Storm (Bear)”

“For I Will Consider My Dog Percy”

“The Storm (Bear)”

“The Dog Has Run Off Again (Benjamin)”

“The Gift”

“Percy Speaks While I Am

Doing Taxes”

“The Summer Beach”

“The First Time Percy Came Back”

“Untitled”

“Henry”

“In Pobiddy, Georgia”