Thursday, December 14, 2017

An Invitation


Photo © 2017 Ian Wagner


Poems
are not safe.

They’re risky.

If you take one for a walk
you might start to think differently
about life, or death, or something,

and you might not like thinking

differently.

What does this mean, you say,
as if I need
another question
I can’t answer . . .

and so avoid the poem
and the heart of it.

True poems
have one
no matter what they tell you—

a poem is a creature
ready to pounce
or lay at your feet
licking your toes—like life

—hungry,
waiting,

and not so bad after all.


© 2017 Jennifer Wagner


For dVerse OpenLinkNight…and an invitation to check out the new dVerse Anthology, Chiaroscuro, available on Amazon (I have a poem in there, too).

Thursday, August 31, 2017

At the Lake

Lake Chelan
Photo © 2017 Jennifer Wagner


Love comes in soft waves—or bold,
and leans in toward our shores—
keeping and staying, freeing and swaying,
ebbing—

Chasing us, when we need to be chased,
holding us, starlit, and
echoing
long
after
night falls.


© 2017 Jennifer Wagner

An acrostic for dVerse.

Lake Chelan is a lake in central Washington and is one of my favorite places to be.  My family has done a lot of living, laughing and loving while visiting there.