In Sev­er­al Colors
by Jane Kenyon
From Col­lect­ed Poems

Every morn­ing, cup of coffee
in hand, I look out at the mountain.
Ordi­nar­i­ly, it’s blue, but today
it’s the col­or of an eggplant.
And the sky turns
from gray to pale apricot
as the sun rolls up
Main Street in Andover.
I study the cat’s face
and find a trace of white
around each eye, as  ( Read more... )

Myth Dis­pelled
-Adam Poss­ner, M.D.

The flu vac­cine cannot
give you the flu, I tell him.
It’s dead virus, there’s
noth­ing alive about it.
It can’t make you sick.
That’s a myth.
But if we bury it in
the grassy knoll
of your shoulder,
an inch under the stratum
corneum, as sanc­tioned by
your signature
in a white-coat­ed ceremony
presided over by
my ( Read more... )

I continue to work on the 2021 Peppermint Purple SAL. I just finished the block for week 29. It’s good to have a second piece to work on while waiting for the blocks of the 2022 SAL!

( Read more... )

For the Bird Singing before Dawn
-Kim Stafford

Some people presume to be hopeful
when there is no evidence for hope,
to be happy when there is no cause.
Let me say now, I’m with them.

In deep darkness on a cold twig
in a dangerous world, one first
little fluff lets out a peep, a warble,
a song-and in a little while, behold:

the first glimmer comes ( Read more... )

Love and Life
by John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester

All my past life is mine no more;
The fly­ing hours are gone,
Like tran­si­to­ry dreams giv­en o’er,
Whose images are kept in store
By mem­o­ry alone.
The time that is to come is not;
How can it then be mine?
The present moment‘s all my lot;
And that, as fast as it is got,
Phillis, is only thine.
Then ( Read more... )

the earth is a liv­ing thing
-Lucille Clifton
From Col­lect­ed Poems of Lucille Clifton

is a black sham­bling bear
ruf­fling its wild back and tossing
moun­tains into the sea

is a black hawk circling
the bury­ing ground cir­cling the bones
picked clean and discarded

is a fish black blind in the bel­ly of water
is a dia­mond blind in the black bel­ly ( Read more... )

I can’t say that I’m surprised.
Remaining unvaccinated increases risk to the vaccinated, says U of T COVID study

People who are unvaccinated against COVID-19 not only place themselves at greater risk of getting infected by the virus, but also increase the infection risk of those around them who have rolled up their sleeves for a jab, according to ( Read more... )

I Don’t Know What Will Kill Us First: The Race War or What We’ve Done to the Earth
-Fatimah Asghar

so I count my hopes: the bumblebees
are making a comeback, one snug tight
in a purple flower I passed to get to you;

your favorite color is purple but Prince’s
was orange & we both find this hard to believe;
today the park is green, we take grass for ( Read more... )

Canary
-Rita Dove
From Grace Notes

Billie Holiday’s burned voice
had as many shadows as lights,
a mournful candelabra against a sleep piano,
the gardenia her signature under that ruined face.

(Now you’re cooking, drummer to bass,
magic spoon, magic needle.
Take all day if you have to
with your mirror and your bracelet of song.)

Fact is, the ( Read more... )

To Hold
-Li-Young Lee
From Behind My Eyes

So we’re dust. In the meantime, my wife and I
make the bed. Holding opposite edges of the sheet,
we raise it, billowing, then pull it tight,
measuring by eye as it falls into alignment
between us. We tug, fold, tuck. And if I’m lucky,
she’ll remember a recent dream and tell me.

One day we’ll lie down and ( Read more... )