TODAY THE WINDS
—Joyce Odam
Today the winds are down, there is
no sound to listen for, the quiet pounding
of waters that were rain, rain, rain, and later
the hail that seemed gentle to the dance, and
the days and days that were and are to come,
we endure them all—with tension and relief
the way it is, these days of winter, summer
and more, whatever is to be.
ON THE BEAUTIFUL WEATHER MAPS
—Joyce Odam
We watch the places of disaster, the cities and
the towns that are destroyed seeming everywhere,
and brace for when it will be us, we who grieve
and send our blessings and prayers.
Light : Light of course is
true to self, trio-of-night is self-
implied, holy to existence, no sen-
timent or visage—it is its own
temperament.
Dark : Dark has no boss, as such,
except, let’s say, nature’s free spirit,
all around, to situation, and happen-
stance.
When : When is the end of itself.
Always now. Sad answer to those
who love their yesterdays, sad time-
savers who reach into the misdirec-
tions of the desperate, always late
or forgetful, on time’s excuse.
Midnight : Midnight, to go back
again, some way-ward-thought with
all its loss and gain, all to be so found,
and all such yearn that turns to haunt
every dream that is so allowed—when
time is dull, and so is love, when time is
rare for such a night, when every moon-
light turns to midnight and every mid-
night turns to love—when night is
lonely for itself and darkness
wends itself away.
it is a hypothetical night—
if you would be here i would be
different, i would not be this shade of
blue—there would be a rim of purest
light, sheen of gold with undercurrents
of silver and the wash of blood red at the
periphery, the same red as that dress i wore
when we were young
INSOMNIA XI
—Robin Gale Odam
Eyes closed in the dark of the hour
I remember a melody, where it lifted
into its higher register—I used to sing
when my voice was younger, resilient
and fair as daylight. I hum a rasp of alto
in the asylum of nighttime.
(prev. pub. in Brevities, October 2016)
____________________
INSOMNIA XLV
—Robin Gale Odam
In my dresser drawer, behind
years of lingerie and old letters,
the pad of parchment stationery
with the sterling pen-and-pencil set
I slip the page of ghost lines behind the
first sheet of paper so as to compose
with evenly-spaced breaths
The pencil whispers across the page,
the low wind of prayer, the sheer
curtain restless at the window
(prev. pub. in Brevities, August 2020)
AXIS
—Robin Gale Odam
the gathering of scraps, of
words to tide us over
the gale to brace against, the
chill to shiver
take the horses to the stream,
see them drink the dark of night,
watch them go around the page
bring us to the water—take us
from the dream
(prev. pub. in Brevities, September-October 2020)
MIRAGE OR NIGHTFALL
—Robin Gale Odam
I
The one-subject notebook, the frozen
poem, the one metonym for yesterday.
II
Just something about this night.
III
At the underside of the water tiny fishes
sip at the veneer of another world.
_________________
Today’s LittleNip:
PLEASURE MY FACE
—Joyce Odam
Come touch the night
with your day fingers,
and when you know,
pleasure my face that I
may never fear the dark
your touch has quieted.
_________________
What a night it was! That was our Seed of the Week, and Joyce and Robin Odam have written to us about the asylum of night, friend/enemy that it is. Well, summer nights will be gentler on us, hopefully, and thanks to the Odam Poets for more of their fine work.
Polish up your magic wand! Our new Seed of the Week is “I Wish . . .”. 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.
Next Monday, April 10, there will be reading at the Sacramento Poetry Center with Four Grande Dames of Sacramento Poetry: Kathryn Hohlwein, Graciela Ramirez, Allegra Silberstein, & Norma Kohout—all Sacramento area poets who are past the age of 90! Joyce was scheduled to read, also—being over the age of 90—but her daughter, Robin, writes that Joyce isn’t up to reading at this point due to her mobility issues, so she has had to withdraw from the event. (She’s still writing new poetry, though!) Take care of yourself, Joyce, and gear up for readings to come.
This evening, starting at 6pm, Women’s Wisdom Art presents The Art of Recklessness: The Legacy of Dean Young, with poets Tess Perez, Rhony Bhopla, Deborah Reidy Keich, Karen DeFoe, Leigh Jordan, Joshua McKinney, Andrew Schley and Stanley Zumbiel. Click UPCOMING NORCAL EVENTS at the top of this column for details about these and other future poetry events in the NorCal area—and keep an eye on this link and on the Kitchen for happenings that might pop up during the week.
_____________________
—Medusa
For more about National Poetry Month,
including ways to celebrate, see
https://poets.org/national-poetry-month.
And sign up for Poem-a-Day at
https://poets.org/poem-a-day/, plus
read about Poem in Your Pocket Day
(this year, April 27) at
https://poets.org/national-poetry-month/poem-your-pocket-day/.
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.
