Excerpts

St. Brigit's Day

Dead tree, dead bush, field in shroud of snowy winter.
In cloudy doubt I dread to see
the worst becoming worse.
Is it my sole reward for surviving January
to be thrust into February? I
do not live by farmer's calendar,
do not watch pregnant ewes coming into milk,
do not observe days beginning to lengthen.

No, in spite of memories from past years
and prayers to you, goddess or saint,
it is an act of faith despite winters shadow to
still believe the green of coming spring,
still celebrate tree in bud, bush in blossom,
still see myself dancing
in fields of flowers under returning sun.


untitled

Like a quantum wave, my spirit
is not trapped within the barrier of my skin.
It tunnels out
to you
and you
and you.
Even this message
may carry it
to someone Ill never meet.


(from) Marys Aubade
Mary bids farewell to Pandera.

I will be with him as he
speaks his first words
Will his voice remind me of yours?
takes his first steps
Will they remind me of your martial stride?
works in the carpenters shop beside the only father
he will ever remember
Will he know of another Father,
one not before his eyes?

But what of you, losing me to the carpenters bed
and losing your child forever?
What could any God know of such sacrifice?
What could any God know of losing a Son?


Biology Class
Susans High-School Teacher is Filled with Certainty (1985)

Another student, Tim, lifts up his hand.
You talk of dominant, recessive genes,
And which is which, but I dont understand.
The teacher speaks, Ill tell you what it means.
Since brown is dominant, if parents eyes
Are brown, their childs can still be blue.
From blue-eyed parents never will arise
A brown-eyed child. That should be clear to you.
Then Susan says, I mean you no defiance.
But sometimes when the parents eyes are blue...?
No. Never could that be. Were talking science.
What science says is absolutely true.
Stifling sobs, she turns her young face down,
And tears flow from her eyes of deepest brown.

From Lady Wisdoms Diary

Then He said, Lets make humans in Our image, and I said Lets. I knew He meant, Im going to do it. Want to come along? and I meant, Whatever Youre doing, I want to be there. I love to be Your cheerleader.

But I wasnt just a cheerleader. He called me His master worker. When He took His big compass and drew a circle on the face of the deep, I was there handing Him his tools. It was I who suggested that to make greenhouse gases stabilize better He should make the earth two-thirds ocean, rather than one-seventh as He planned.

He delighted in me, and I rejoiced in Him and all He was doing. You might think Id be jealous of these humans He made, who demanded so much of His attention and gave Him so much bother, but I wasnt. I was enraptured with them because He was.

Even though I knew that when they got into scrapes, it would be me who had to get them out. But thats another story.

Every Inch a King

I sit here in my lonely palace
Settling squabbles subjects bring.
My sons and wives are filled with malice.
Whats the point of being king?

Others leave to fight in battle.
Now's the time for war; its spring.
Generals fight, but I just prattle.
Whats the point of being king?

Uriah goes to join my soldiers,
Leaves Bathsheba cowering,
Bruises on her face and shoulders.
Cant a king do anything?

Such a disregard for beauty
Must receive an answering.
Isn't saving her my duty?
What is the point of being king?


Apple Tree, Maple Tree

We stand together season by season.
You give gifts of blossoms in spring,
fruit in summer.
I offer shade in summer,
flamboyant spectacle in fall.

We wave to each other in the breeze,
sing together in strong wind,
touch toes beneath the soil.

All I need is you nearby,
changing, repeating, surprising me
as months and years roll.


moon-garbed

As you sleep the full moon
shining through slats of the blind
dresses you in stripes.
I reach over, grasp your hand,
waiting for the moon to draw us
into enchanted lands.

Gold

There is a heart-stopping thrill
to see a glitter among the sand
and gravel in your pan
or from that likely-looking rock
youve just struck in California
of 1849, Alaska some decades later
or perhaps somewhere on earth
still unknown.

Or so Im told.
I dont much scramble up mountains
or wander deserts and tundra.
My taste runs more to Birkenstocks
than hiking boots.

But I have
that same heart-stopping thrill
at my window as gold collects
in my back yard at a tube
of thistle seed.

Thanks

How kind of you to have your office call
And let me know I couldnt be your host.
Dont give another thought. No, none at all.

You couldnt send a note in your own scrawl?
But now its two weeks later, or almost.
How kind of you to have your office call.

I made a new dessert; it stood so tall.
I just had lit the oven for the roast.
Dont give another thought. No, none at all.

I took some photos of our friends last fall.
I thought wed laugh and give old times a toast.
How kind of you to have your office call.

You had to do some shopping at the mall?
But I postponed a weekend on the coast!
Dont give another thought. No, none at all.

Lets try another time? The odds are small.
How big a chance? Id say less than a ghost.
How kind of you to have your office call.
Dont give another thought. No, none at all.

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