A bit bombastic One of my poems for Thursday August 1 2024 I WAS LOOKING FOR . . . Jill

[jill stockinger]

Dear Compadres,

This sounds a bit bombastic to me, though I like many lines in it.

(Of course!)

I wrote this fairly quickly.

It perhaps holds some cliches--but I am hoping my ending "rescues" the poem.

I can use all the help you can offer!

Jill

                      Jill Stockinger

 

I Was Looking for . . .

 

dreams mired in the muck,

for the scintillating jewels

that flash like knives, whose truth

illuminates and wounds our hearts.

 

I hear the faithful

moving slowly, bound by chains.

Grounded in loss, they are crying

in the wilderness for God and bread.

 

So many stories in these blood-soaked lands.

So many ghosts who wish to be remembered

and so many who do not. There is some peace

in knowing I will be forgotten.

 

New life often struggles but can result

in surprising growth and fruitfulness,

despite the surrounding air

of stifling inevitability and rot.

 

I hear confusing sounds. Is it laughter?

Happiness is often considered suspect.

Are they digging new graves

or creating new paths?

 

 

[Deborah Schmidt]

Hi all,

I have really tried to do automatic writing this week, but I think maybe I need to get high first or something... So the first poem here is not true automatic writing but has some of the best lines from my attempts. The second is another concrete poem written previously.

Looking forward to Thursday!

Deborah

--

Deborah Bachels Schmidt

author of Stumbling Into Grace, Orchard Street Press

coauthor of Love's Meditation, Random Lane Press