A Yankee's Musing

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Mining Life

she peers down at me
sort of a sidewise glance
you don’t have good veins
code for I’m going to stick you
and it will probably hurt
not once maybe twice
if you’re lucky
and they don’t blow up
same old same old same old song
how many veins have you mined
over the past 4 years
do they heal
ready themselves for the next siege
or do they wither away
so some she or he
has to dig deeper
and deeper
shit
it never ends
if I am lucky…

Monday, October 20, 2008

fall

19 degrees
footsteps crunch and leave no trace
on the forest floor
tree limbs grey-bare
except for the beech
who hang on
winter’s death rattle
five small hen turkeys pick
their way along the dirt road
a first winter
how many will survive
the ravens soar overhead
spot me
swoop closer
land in a pine
the bear came by
lately my neighbors say
checked each shuttered window
pushed in on the screen doors
huffed
circled twice
then went right for the potted plants
frozen reminders
he dumps them all
each carefully with one paw
so they lie upside down
not scattered
not damaged
sign posts
bear conversation
I well understand
as I right each one
tamp the rich soil back in
pile them near the shed
ready for next spring
if he stops by again
he will know
the ravens screech
circle
and fly off toward Mt. Passaconaway
19 degrees
footsteps crunch and leave no trace
on the forest floor
but my neighbors know I’m home
if only for one night
before I move along.

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

silence

I apologize for the silence on this blog lately. I have been involved in a new genre of writing, at least new to me---playwriting. It consumes my every waking moment that I let it. I wake up at night with a line change, sometimes even a word change. I took this course because 1) I respect Jessica Hagedorn as a writer and as a teacher so I felt it was a unique opportunity to learn something new; and 2) I have been writing non-fiction almost exclusively since I got cancer four years ago. I have missed the excitement of creating something new---not just straying from "the truth," but taking leaps into unknown territory. I have given myself a gift, I think, in taking this course. I now believe I may take it again in the spring, part II. Oh my, I haven't felt so excited since I fell in love with kayaking. Something very alive with these two activities: kayaking and playwriting. Hmmmm....sounds like a poem might reveal itself soon.