I'm taking a Writing Poetry class this semester which seems to be taking a great deal of courage. Listening to a lecture is one thing, actually sharing a poem with a class is something entirely different.
I really haven't written any poems for a few years...you know, since the phase in life when I was going through breakups and dramatic things like that.
Anyways, here goes my first try. This is the draft I am taking to class today for editing.
Remembering Italy From the Kitchen Window
The first time my toes touched the Mediterranean
I was worried about a lot of things.
I didn’t even see the sun make liquid
Out of my third gelato for the day
As I agonized over important decisions
And my adulthood started to rise up inside of me,
Slowly like the balmy tide
Swelling and then retreating, one wave and then another.
Now instead I worry over dishwater
And with raisin fingers, wonder about the perfect temperature for baking chicken,
Or how to pay the health insurance bill
That is threatening me from the kitchen table.
But I know that these things are worth having,
These humdrum treasures I’ve strung together to make a life.
I know this from the way the sun filters through the blinds just enough to wake me in the mornings,
Or the mama bird who lays her eggs in my petunia basket so that I can watch them grow feathers and leave.
None of it, not a single mundane miracle
Goes unnoticed by my briefcase of a soul
Which has been filled to the brim, and overflowing
One menial moment at a time.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Secret: I love poetry. I blame my husband. Or rather, thank him ;). And this is beautiful. It makes pictures... my favorite kind of words.
leah--you should definitely write more poetry! this one is AMAZING! (by the way, that's espen's favorite new word, "amazing"--i wonder where he got it???) anyway, SO great. perhaps it's because it speaks to a phase i find myself in as well...but i think it's a phase we all experience, so it will probably speak to most people. i love the imagery and the intimacy. keep writing, and keep posting!
Post a Comment