Poetry – Muttering Retreats

To All the Good Doctors

A doctor once called meAfter an afternoon of pokes and prods He said”When we dig we find stuff.”He said”Life is going to be hard for you.”He said”It is what it is.”Like he was talking about the weather reportOr what detour to take home that dayBecause of all the construction But his way is not myContinueContinue reading “To All the Good Doctors”

Raynaud’s Phenomenon

I stopped knocking when I saw the blood Had drained out of me, againPast my knucklesColor faded to whiteMy fingers go numb in the coldSo I often miss when I’ve been outsideA little too long I plunge my hands into my pocketsThe pain will come soon (White hot, they say, with almost no hint ofContinueContinue reading “Raynaud’s Phenomenon”

In Their Words

Stumbled on this piece today and it struck me as apropos of everything. Everything Is Made Of LaborFarnaz FatemiThe inchworm’s trajectory:pulse of impulse. The wormis tender. It won’t livelong. Its green glows.It found a place to go.Arrange us with meaning,the words plead. Find the threadthrough the dark.

Quiet Art

Re-encountered this poem today, and oh how it resonates. … so this is for us.This is for us who sing, write, dance, act, study, run and loveand this is for doing it even if no one will ever knowbecause the beauty is in the act of doing it.Not what it can lead to.This is forContinueContinue reading “Quiet Art”

To Charley

Of all the money that e’er I hadI spent it in good companyAnd all the harm that e’er I’ve doneAlas, it was to none but meAnd all I’ve done for want of witTo memory now, I can’t recallSo fill to me the parting glassGoodnight and joy be with you all Of all the comrades thatContinueContinue reading “To Charley”

Solsticing

In honor of the darkest day of the year, and as an eternal lover of the dynamics of great storytelling, today I’ll simply post one of my favorite poems about the dark night of the soul. I have been one acquainted with the night.I have walked out in rain—and back in rain.I have outwalked theContinueContinue reading “Solsticing”

A Scattered Tribe

Had a lovely dinner with my mother recently, and shortly thereafter she sent me this lesser known but beautifully written poem by a former U.S. Poet Laureate. ‘Tis a gift to be so deeply understood. I have walked through many lives, some of them my own,and I am not who I was,though some principle ofContinueContinue reading “A Scattered Tribe”

Not My Story

Come out, come outThis is no time for hidingAnd no time for cryingBecause your rations are packedAnd your armor is onAnd you’re far from done(And you’re not quite undone) Feel the weightIt’s light as a featherThe heaviest featherA feather that can hold youAs it drifts slowly around Circling and liftingAs an unexpected breezeKeeps your feetContinueContinue reading “Not My Story”

Against the Graine

The Longest Month

at the momentall that wasis now remnants on the ground under the snow the flowers unprunedand the earth under gloomas the pavement moves(yet somehow we are unmoved)at the momentwe are groundedand boarded and stowed awayso we can stare at the unfinished businessof the other elevenand wonder what the remaining ten will doto rebuild or furtherContinueContinue reading “The Longest Month”