Dreaming at Daybreak

Port Sanilac, Michigan

—Photo by Katy Brown, Davis

POET’S DREAM AT DAYBREAK
—Patricia Hickerson, Davis

night breaks into day
stars slip away
sky is dark
can’t get to my toothbrush
it’s in the other room
I brush my teeth with a pen
it’s not easy
phrases keep repeating
Hannah is there giving counsel to others
I’m pushed from room to room
no room is mine
Dave is there, too
I tell him my day’s adventures
he is protective
I must keep moving
keep repeating the treasured phrases
so that I remember them later
how shall I put it?
now three words
day breaks away…   

_____________________

A FISH STORY
—Patricia Hickerson

those big multi colored alphabet blocks
on the kindergarten table
more real than people
each letter a different sex
A a girl, B a boy, C a girl….
growing into Mary Poppins and Silver Pennies
A Child’s Garden of Verses
third grade, she sat at her desk
oblivious to kids swarming around her
her first poem, the only one for years
there was so much to read
the Pueblo Indians, Jean LaFitte
the poem:
in and out, in and out, little fishies swim about
grandmother nursed two lone goldfish
by the dining room window
they swam and swooped
in a bowl set on a copper stand
next to the pungent aroma of
geraniums a bright and bloody crimson
their thick sculptured leaves
like rough velvet to the touch
captured and tamed in giant terra cotta pots

_____________________

RUINS OF A NEW YORK STORY
—Patricia Hickerson

staked on the Palisades
a sign reads “Udson River”
creatures crawl up the cliffs ponder the past
ask “what was there?”

they look beyond the lowered river
bodies float in shadow
distant ghosts of skyscrapers
steeples and spires no longer menace Heaven
water towers squat on rooftops
yellow brick housing, dusty brownstones
bridges are broken sheets of chrome
spirals of steel folly
misbegotten trails for dismembered cars

what was there? nothing
just a story still in my head
science fiction in a magazine that
scarred my brain when I was 10
heading for puberty and the unknown…   

—Photo by Katy Brown

NEW YEAR'S EVE ANNIVERSARY
—Ann Wehrman, Sacramento

all around me
blasts rat-a-tat-tat pop
fools’ guns
mix with fireworks
nerves taut
I write alone
you are far
I breathe inside
circle of fear
kiss you
in my mind
wish you
happy New Year
happy anniversary
feel your love
in response
affirmation
in my mind’s ear
outside, lunacy revels
inside, love remains
begins a new year

__________________

EVENFALL
—Ann Wehrman

rain-washed air, pearlescent mist
steel-gray clouds portend more
rain ~ concrete patio soaked

window against which
cold nose presses
Christmas Eve ~ hail, God’s grace

heart paces hard
tattered carpet, small studio
try to work
impossible to concentrate

New Year’s Eve quickens
Christmas’ deep, honest loneliness
gone, another year
we could have spent together

making love
walking hand in hand
sharing morning coffee
evening wine

__________________

Today's LittleNip:

AT NIGHTFALL
—Patricia Hickerson

the dream place
in bed
under a cool sheet
and downy blanket
pale green memories
those you love
stuff the pillow with poems
words cool and settle
reach for the pen
the paper the joys
like kisses in your palm
you blow to the window
where mother moon peers in
to tuck you safe
through chinks in the blind
big silver face dazzles
treasure found
at the start of night

___________________

—Medusa, with thanks to today's poets Patricia Hickerson and Ann Wehrman and photographer Katy Brown [be sure to check out Medusa's Facebook page for more photos of Katy's adventure in the cold of Michigan]. Davis continue to give us many fine poets and artists; here's a reminder that tonight at 8pm Briony Gylgayton will read at the John Natsoulas Gallery in Davis. Scroll down to the blue board at the right of this column for details.

—Photo by Katy Brown