who gets me versus who got me

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Susan L Daniels

For Thom

the men who understand me
are the peace marchers
the world walkers
the men who show up at my door
travel-stained
wearing recycled-tire sandals from Africa
& who preach the gospel
of pure veganism;
the men that
get their hands dirty
cleaning up the messes we’ve made
of our world,
our lives,
& who speak poetry
from memory

the men who do not stay still
for long,
are too impatient
to stay in one small space;
these are the men
who understand me
without question

so many times
I have thrown this heart
after a man running toward
a movement,
a cause,
a destiny that is too big
to understand small fears.

then,
I waited for the man
who could love me
regardless of politics
& where I stand
on ….. anything,
the man
who loves my mind
in all its wild wanderings;
perhaps not understanding,
but loving me
because of

(or maybe
in spite
of) it,

the man
who will kiss me silent
or listen, whichever
is necessary

at the moment.

Posted in New Free Verse | 9 Comments

Lois (Alzheimer poem #4): Church

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Susan L Daniels

She loved going to service with me
Sunday mornings, until
the rustling of 150 bibles
turning to the right passage
became a fluttering distraction

how could she listen,
get comfort
when she was still frantically
looking for the exact verse in Genesis
being read

after all, Mom knew her Bible
better than most pastors
& needed to make sure
he got the wording right;
this one looked too young to trust
in matters of spirit

even when she no longer knew
the location,
she had the gist
and the Book was hiding
its truth from her
when she couldn’t find it
fast enough

My finger guiding her eyes
to the verse
could never be enough;

so she stopped going
& worshiped,
as in everything else
without words
or language,

& God heard her
& spoke to her

Perfectly,
as in all things.

Posted in Alzheimer's, New Free Verse | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Lois (Alzheimer poem #3): Faces, or the unstrung kite

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Susan L Daniels

What are faces to my mother
who no longer feels the tug of relationship,
that nagging sensation that used to say
when a face belonged to a friend,
a husband, a daughter.

Faces lost their meaning
& history for her,
beyond a bleeding of color & features

less interesting
than the lilacs I cut for her
last May.

I know she has lost one more part
of what grounds her,
& when that last line is cut

& she drifts unpiloted into sky
she will know nothing else
but that sensation of flight.

Posted in Alzheimer's, New Free Verse | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Zoe’s haiku

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Susan L Daniels

Remember the other day, when I wrote about Zoe and I trying out some haiku together?  She wants to share some with you 🙂

***

its state math test time
our pencils tap the answer
fingers drumming desks

***

bright blue eyes
he looks up to you
big sister

Posted in haiku | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Clarity (Haiku Heights Prompt 4/28)

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Susan L Daniels

waking, I comb out
snarled colors/tangled dreaming
groomed to clarity

***

pure clarity of
one drop of rainwater, poised
on a blade of grass

***

birdsong, like bright bells
such rough, joyous clarity
ringing in the day

Posted in haiku | Tagged , | 4 Comments

poetry swarm

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Susan L Daniels

words buzz circles
in my consciousness, so loud
the swarming wakes me
at 3 a.m.
faster than any
alarm clock could

so they can spiral desperately
to breed
& nest formed thought
on paper

I can’t write them
fast enough–
catch them, or
they will fly from my fingertips
& be gone
if they are not
quickly contained

finally,
the image is trapped
on the page

& I can sleep

Posted in New Free Verse | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Lois (Alzheimer poem #2)

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Susan L Daniels

she held my son
in her lap
when he knew 2 words
& she had forgotten all hers

but they were smiling together
love needs no spoken language

Posted in Alzheimer's, New Free Verse | Tagged , | 12 Comments