The Moon, Ten Times by Pat Schneider
On January 20, 2021 by Speranza
O round, cool face of forever
float free
for me
Saucer without a teacup
without the tyranny
of tea
Owl eye without a pupil
blind
to contradiction
My white balloon
has lost its string
and me
Round, open mouth
of the goddess
of light
The night sky’s
exclamation:
Oh!
Puppeteer
of tides,
rock the shore of the world
Bright Frisbee
the dog star lost
in the night
Perfect pearl
crown of cornfields
and night watchmen’s hair
Bellybutton
of God
Permission granted to post here by: Pat Schneider, Writing Alone and with others, Oxford Univ.Press, 2003.
I have truly adored this poem since the first time I read it – the descriptions are exquisite and everything about it is full of unselfconscious whimsy and joy. I’ve been a huge fan of Pat Schneider’s work for years now and when I originally emailed her directly to ask permission to eventually put this on the blog, she was supremely gracious and we began a brief bit of back and forth correspondence which was absolutely thrilling to me.
Happy New Year, try not to laugh …
On January 8, 2021 by Speranza
Hard to write about anything today without commenting on the endlessly distressing news (er, and Happy New Year everyone) but I will now try to do that very thing. Those who know me, will testify that I have always been about savouring and appreciating The Small Things (even before it became fashionable to do so and we all had to read about the technique in someone’s bestselling book).
But truly, it really is all that we have.
Losing your Marbles – or not
On December 30, 2020 by Speranza
So hard to believe that The Pandemic year has been almost exactly that now – an entire year. With more intense lockdowns returning this week and the growing, trembling realization that this whole thing may not have been handled as well by our government as we previously thought, I am trying to return to focusing on the few things that I can control here in my own world. Sadly, this must include the rat’s nest that is called my study. I am usually very much on top of this stuff but slowly it has turned into such a landslide of papers, filing and debris that I had to begin a Shred-Off – and this is only Day 2.
The fallen leaves are cornflakes
That fill the lawn's wide dish,
And night and moon, the wind's a spoon
That stirs them with a swish.
The sky's a silver sifter
A-sifting white and slow,
That gently shakes
On crisp brown flakes
The sugar known as snow.
Kaye Starbird (1916-1993)
December Leaves