The Challenge of Yourself

 

Then The Shadows
—Poetry by Joyce Odam and Robin Gale Odam,
Sacramento, CA
—Photos by Robin Gale Odam

CIPHER
—Joyce Odam

When exhausted, the wild duck flew down
into the swimming pool and floated—
floated there—staring at the day.

And the day stared back.

Then the shadows of the other wild ducks
crossed over—and the first one rose
and followed.

                                                
(prev. pub. in Brevities, December 2016) 

 

 

 

 Fusion

 

COLOR SWARM
—Joyce Odam

It is always a surprise to find
a swarm of colors
come alive—
become
butterflies,
blendings,
and separations—
become beings of a new creation.

                               
(prev. pub. in Brevities, March 2015)

_________________

EARLY WINTER NIGHT
—Joyce Odam

full moon through bare trees
bright restaurant sign

slick yellow sidewalk
in the rain

gingko leaves:
small yellow fans


(prev. pub. in Brevities, September 2016)

___________________

SHY EYES
—Joyce Odam

He has shy eyes,
when the world feels true . . .

He is not the one,
oh, my foolish you.

But he has shy eyes,
when the eyes burn through . . . 

Oh, foolish you, he
is not the one—nor vow of
true smoothed down to the sweet
vow he gives you, in the yearning
of your eyes—both sincere now,
both beware, you have
shy eyes too.

Oh my easy-one, he is not
the one when the eyes say ‘you’,
and you would go, for you
have shy eyes, too.

__________________                                 

in hallow of time
testament of assembly
—spirit, stone, and mud

—Robin Gale Odam


(prev. pub. in Brevities, November 2016) 

 

 

 

 No Sorrows To Expect

 

FUTURES
—Joyce Odam

Who knows what grief is yours—
    it’s not here yet,
so dance as if there are no
    sorrows to expect.

                               
(prev. pub. in Brevities, December 2016)  

___________________

INSOMNIA X
—Robin Gale Odam

The moon rises with the setting
of the sun—distant and low, opposite
horizons—I want them both. Like book-

ends they press me together—my pages,
my chapters—and daydream gives way
to restless hours in jealous moonlight.

    
(prev. pub. in Brevities, September 2016) 

 

 

 

 Soul-Deep

 

OF BLUE
In Loving Memory of Leonard Cohen
—Joyce Odam

There is one color, which is blue, that takes
many tones and shadings—now the sea

now the sky—now the mind : a synthesis
of dark—soul-deep—too deep for blue.

                                                
(prev. pub. in Brevities, November 2016)

____________________

on the wind a bird
just above the beryl hills
then a memory

—Robin Gale Odam

 
(prev. pub. in Brevities, September 2016)

__________________

THE REALM
—Joyce Odam

Within the realm of wanting
life is pure, there is a haunting,  
there is a whir in a sensation—

there is a cry, there is always
a cry of wanting, always a sigh,
always a sigh to follow.

Life is true,
the only “true” there is,
a time of promise and despair.

What is there is there,
and that is rare, like any plea
or sorrow.

It all works out. Forget
despair, the trip and try of any
arrow that learns to fly,

and, one tomorrow . . .
and you can have reach
with the challenge of yourself. 

 

 

 

  All Perfection

Today’s LittleNip:

POST SCRIPT
 —Joyce Odam

When I am obsolete
I will remember all perfection
as an answer shattered
by a question.


(prev. pub. in Brevities, September 2016)

__________________

Our thanks to Joyce and Robin Odam for today’s spot-on poetry and Robin’s photos. Troupers, they are, and we are mightily grateful for ‘em!

Our new Seed of the Week is “Combustible”. Send your poems, photos & artwork about this (or any other) subject to kathykieth@hotmail.com. No deadline on SOWs, though, and for a peek at our past ones, click on “Calliope’s Closet”, the link at the top of this column, for plenty of others to choose from. And see every Form Fiddlers’ Friday for poetry form challenges, including those of the Ekphrastic type.

And my apologies for spelling Roberta Jacobson’s name wrong on yesterday’s post—it’s ‘son’ with an o, not an e…

__________________

—Medusa

 

 

 

 Twila-Star Odam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two workshops in the NorCal area
today, one on Zoom from
Women’s Wisdom Art, and
one at the Cameron Park Library.
For info about these and other
upcoming poetry happenings in
Northern California and otherwheres,
click on
UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS
(http://medusaskitchen.blogspot.com/p/wtf.html)
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 Glimmer of Hope:
summer rain comes
and goes, comes
and goes—
please, won’t you stay
just one more day…?