Fingerprints

 

—Poetry by Claire J. Baker,

Pinole, CA

 —Northwest Coast Tribal Artwork 

Courtesy of Public Domain

APOLOGY

You, Robbie,
warm & real as
you were,
end up as a scrap
of address,
found in a catch-all
drawer
this autumn
evening while
looking for matches.

You, Robbie
warm & real as
you were.


(prev. pub. in Blue Unicorn)

 

 

 

 

 

CROWS IN FLIGHT

Crows
in flight
dip
&
wheel
a stream
of blue
apart
reeling
on clefs of air
now here
now there
now
shadows
gliding
over hills
western high
on
calmer wings
of a lullaby.

 

 

 

 

 

DELVING INTO TIME       

If we try to catch time
by the tail,
tame it to our own tempo,
we can’t even trap
its shadow!

In fantasy we may try
to TIME time: not an Einstein
or Copernicus, we can’t see into
and through black holes or
bend with the curvature of space.

There is grace in  
S-L-O-W  M-O-T-I-O-N
slowing down enough
to become smoothly aligned
with our own breathing.

Dear people,
how much time
does it take
to shape and refine one’s soul?
Have we time enough?


(prev. pub. online, UUCB)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FELLOW TRAVELERS

If a star should fall
into our hands, we need not
place it back into the sky…
If we yearn to break
new ground,
why not start with the land
on which we stand?

If we feel we are on our way,
yet we haven’t moved
an inch, we are on our way!
Fellow travelers, we need
not fly a million miles
to know we can soar.

           
(prev. pub. in Benicia Herald, 7/4/21)

 

 

 

 

 

MEDITATION BY THE OCEAN

Listening to incoming waves,
breathing slowly
evenly
we inhale  
fused
variations
on universal
themes
numerous
like galaxies. . .
In silence
we inhale  
essences of
each becoming more.

 

 

 

 

 

NORTHERN LIGHTS

May our inner crystal ball
align with our
magnetic waves
while the heart’s hourglass
sifts away negatives
that we may find ourselves
in an aurora borealis
of pastels
rippling through
a backdrop of stars—
each spark
an answered prayer.

____________________

Today’s LittleNip:

FINGERPRINTS
—Claire J. Baker

Since I cannot
reach you any other way,
I leave fingerprints
in the grain of this poem
I just finished and forward

to you, fancying that when
your fingerprints dovetail
with mine, you will take
a firmer grip, friend,
and hold on.

____________________

—Medusa, thanking Claire Baker for her aurora borealis of poetry today!

 

 

 

 For more about crows in flight, go to
www.mentalfloss.com/article/504722/12-fascinating-facts-about-crows/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





For upcoming poetry happenings in
Northern California and otherwheres,
click on
UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS
in the links at the top of this page.

Photos in this column can be enlarged by
clicking on them once, then clicking on the x
in the top right corner to come back to Medusa.

Would you like to be a SnakePal?
All you have to do is send poetry and/or
photos and artwork to
kathykieth@hotmail.com. We post
work from all over the world—including
that which was previously published—
and collaborations are welcome.
Just remember:
the snakes of Medusa are always hungry—
for poetry, of course!

 

LittleSnake’s Pal, Crow