November 2023
Bio Note: I continue to look to poetry for sanity and as an antidote to despair. It continues to not disappoint. By November, my poetry collection, Every Small Breeze should be out in the world, with a third chapbook, In My Locket, to follow in Spring 2024. I was honored recently to have poet James Crews read my poem, which appears in his latest anthology, to the audience at an event celebrating the book.
In my wildest
poetry dreams,
I am invited to join
Matthew Olzmann’s writing group.
We form a small circle of locals,
non-competitive, encouraging and enthusiastic,
meeting to share creative work.
In my wildest political dreams,
justice is brought for crimes
of corruption and exploitation.
And in my wildest dreams for society,
“we are all in this together” really means
there’s no great poverty, no grandiose wealth;
we help each other cover the necessities
for survival, and good health.
In my wildest dreams for the planet,
Earth survives our era of mass neglect and ruin.
We live in harmony; thriving ecosystems,
with their balanced heat and rain, sustain us,
and Earth loves us again.
In my wildest flower dreams,
I’m weaving through flourishing fields in waves
of echinacea, aster, clover, phlox, daisies.
Bees and butterflies dance in the buttercups,
and I am gleeful, grateful, for the perfect blue of forget-me-nots.
Not At All
write a one sentence poem that includes two truths and a lie
My mother is ninety now, and feels not at all
diminished, as she settles into “assisted living”
while our winter months amass and my wrinkles
form at night.
I bought him a buddha
found the perfect one.
Shakyamuni, sitting in meditation.
Weathered stone. A statue of weight,
representing time; years of practice.
Dedication to studying peace,
acceptance, serenity.
Eyes gaze earthward
legs folded
spine straight
the way we’ve sat together
for many years
in meditation
breathing,
watching the breath,
letting go
and letting go
returning
and returning
to the core.
This is where we find each other
and are wed.
©2023 Marjorie Moorhead
Editor's Note: If this poem(s) moves you please consider writing to the author (email address above) to say what it is about the poem you like. Writing to the author is what builds the community at Verse-Virtual. It is very important. -JL