Sue Daly
—Poems by Sue Daly, Sacramento, CA
—Photo by Michelle Kunert, Sacramento, CA
MIGRATION
I have no poems
to speak of
none to read,
none to write
none to edit or embellish
nothing heavy,
nothing light.
None advancing or leaving
for a distant shore,
I stand empty-handed
with only this and nothing more.
Nothing pithy
nothing witty;
no endings or beginnings
with nothing in-between.
No ideas on the horizon
Not even a glimmer;
all my hopes
and all my poems
have flown south
for the winter.
___________________
UNSPOKEN
Left unspoken
rhyme without reason
love for a season
Left unspoken
words made of dust
time-tested trust
Left unspoken
grief without end
wounds of a friend
—Anonymous Photo
DOPPELGÄNGER
Her doppelgänger must
reside in an alternate universe.
She imagines her living in
an Ozzie and Harriet household
with a loving mom and dad.
She wonders if the girl that looks
like her has ever gone hungry
or been locked up for hours. Has she ever
hidden her bruises from the teacher?
Probably not.
Once she stayed at Nana’s house overnight.
She had seconds and thirds at dinner.
Nana let her have two desserts.
She drifted off to sleep while watching
The Lawrence Welk Show.
That night she dreamed
she was wearing a sleeveless
shirt while running free in the wind,
baring her arms to the summer sun.
__________________
GATHER ME
You gather me
unkept and unkind,
you filter me
and find buried jewels.
Your patient and purposed spirit
bequeaths me
a small slice of sunrise.
You gather me
from the four corners,
take me into yourself
then release me,
changed
forever.
—Anonymous Photo
VALENTINE’S DAY
Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere.
They’re in each other all along.
—Rumi
Like a well-loved cat you
curl up beside me, almost purring,
telling me about your day.
The beginnings and endings
of my life revolve around you.
We make our way around the sun
in different orbits, sometimes
touching and sometimes not,
sensing each other’s presence
within, where no one and no-thing
could ever pry us apart.
We are so entangled together,
when I breathe in, you breathe out.
This is the way it is with us,
connected at heart level,
always joined in our minds—
destined to become closer with
each day passing bright
before our eyes.
___________________
CAMOUFLAGE
Here’s the thing—
when asked if we would do it differently
if we could go back in time,
we say “No, of course not,
everything happens for a reason
and it all brought me to where I am today.”
Here’s the thing—
we spew syrupy-sweet platitudes
talk about silver linings…
(I’ve rarely mined any silver,
it must be missing in action along
with my half-lived life.)
Here’s the thing—
we downplay our despair,
camouflage our doubt
then pass it off as truth.
We say “I have no regrets, no secrets
to unburden,
I’ve fared pretty well through the
passage of time.”
But here’s the thing—
sometimes… we lie.
—Anonymous Photo
BERMUDA TRIANGLE
Eclipse clouds our view
a perfect glowing circle
Compass spins wildly
instruments are jammed
Volcano bellows on a distant island
threatens to spill its wrath
Time-shifting fog engulfs us
in a mesmerizing haze
We step off the abyss
walk into the legend
How far have we drifted?
we have no way of knowing
We look for the North Star
search for the Southern Cross
Anything to find our bearings
anything to light our way home
___________________
Today’s LittleNip:
SURELY
—Sue Daly
Let us be finished
with sorrowing.
Wounded and worn,
surely we have borne
this load long enough,
it will not be long—
our music begins.
__________________
Our thanks to Sue Daly for today’s fine poetry! Sacramento Poet and Artist Sue Daly’s poetry has been published in The Clinical Update, When the Light Changes, Brevities, Peeking Cat Poetry Magazine, Poetry Now, Cosumnes River College Journal, Medusa’s Kitchen, Song of the San Joaquin and others. Sue facilitates a poetry workshop at Wellspring Women's Center in Sacramento. She has an interest in empowering women to find their unique voices through writing and sharing their poetry with others.
Today’s poems are from Sue’s chapbook, A Voice at Last (DADs DESK Publishing Co., 2017), and can be obtained by writing to her at jtwnana7@gmail.com/. Sue will be reading at Poetry in Placerville (with Carol Louise Moon plus open mic) this coming Sunday, Aug. 20, at Love Birds Coffee and Tea Co., 1390 Broadway, 1-3pm. Scroll down to the blue column (under the green column at the right) for info about this and other upcoming poetry events in our area—and note that more may be added at the last minute.
—Medusa
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