February 2025
Bio Note: Wisconsin Poet Laureate 2017-2018, I am the author of eight chapbooks of poems. A second, full collection of poems, Ripple, Scar, and Story, was published by Kelsay Books in 2022. Since moving from Wisconsin to southern California, my poems have taken on a much "warmer" tone.
Orange Shoes: 1969
Every time I see a photo
of something in orange, patent leather,
I think about those shoes I bought
on the way home from work.
We lived in San Diego,
and I had to go through downtown
to change busses. Those shoes
almost glowed from a store window.
They called to me: bright orange
Maryjane’s with square toes
and blocky heels. I was entranced.
My new husband wasn’t.
Growing up with three brothers,
I guess he didn’t understand
women sometimes liked
pretty things. I guess
he didn’t understand
after he told me he hated
everything in my closet,
I might want to buy something new.
The Singing Nib
Some pen nibs are like that,
willing to sing for you,
like Tony Bennett as you write
uncertain words across a page.
Ballpoint pens that pass
across paper, move like slugs
sometimes leaving sticky plops
of ink behind. They don’t sing;
they drone like broken fan blades.
Felt tips don’t sing, either,
nor do gel pens. They’re too slick
for crooning. Fountain pen nibs
sometimes vibrate as you write,
encouraging you to say more.
Sometimes it’s a screech
or a mild-mannered squeak.
Sometimes it's a feedback loop,
a melodic “I get a kick out of you!”
Ophthalmologist
It must be inconvenient as hell,
to be a doctor, dentist, or nurse
and be so frightenly beautiful,
so good-looking that patients stare
in awe of your face, your hands,
your stature because height
goes with tall, dark, and handsome.
You, wearing, Onitsuka Tiger shoes,
me, wearing the same kind in pink.
We are meant to be. You,
with brown eyes, mine, brown, too,
but slightly cloudy. You look
deeply into my right eye
as you sit behind your laser gizmo.
My vision will improve, you say
with each zap of light, yet,
all I can see, now, are stars.
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's important. -JL