Saturday, September 6, 2014

magnitude of creation (1)


Photo © 2014 Jennifer Wagner



the chickadees
and nuthatches

clap their wings
against their sides

zip, dip
snip
seeds
from the feeder

look
and dip,
snip again

twist
fly       a          w         a          y

and a moment later
are
back again
all day long

inch
by inch 
we get closer, to the window

watch them
watch us
watch them

face to beak

and learn
in some small way

how each
small thing

is never
small



© 2014 Jennifer Wagner



This summer I visited the Poetry Foundation in Chicago.  On display were some of Tony Fitzpatrick’s drawings The Secret Birds.  He says his grandmother used to say, “For the price of a piece of bread you can hear God sing.



Friday, August 29, 2014

On Dead Dragonfly and Giant Mushroom Trail



It’s on our lips,
we’re whispering the change of time
while the ear tips of trees
are burning orange.

Seven and I
pick and eat blackberries,
just a few, though—
as the bulk have not yet turned
from green,
to red,
to purplish-black.

Not far away
charcoal is smoldering
and the scent of
grilling hot dogs
keeps summer alive—

we pause,
as much to watch
a rabbit watching us
and then bounce away,

as to hold on
to the end
and the beginning.



© 2014 Jennifer Wagner


“Seven” refers to my seven-year-old.  There is a trail near our house we often walk on where he found a beautiful dead dragonfly and where a giant mushroom grows sideways out of the trunk of a fallen tree, therefore, the title.  Happy changing of seasons!

For OLN at dVerse

Friday, August 22, 2014

Cleaning House



In my thrift store psyche
the ghost of you sits
in a ring of dust
on a table not quite antique.

I keep check on it
every now and then,
making sure you haven’t reappeared

midst blue and gold gilded vases,
LP’s with faded jackets,
and hand-me-downs.

New stuff gets added
daily, weekly, monthly. . .

and some things find other homes, too—
like you.

One day I’ll dust,
after the clutter clears,
and then
even your memory
will be gone too.

Until I find another thing
that reminds me of you.



© 2014 Jennifer Wagner



Sunday, August 17, 2014

(Out of) Focus



Broken, I was
in a thousand fifteen places.

Broken, then
in two hundred twenty-eight.

Broken, now am I
in ten plus seventeen.

And more—but why do I only see
the broken parts of me?

 

© 2014 Jennifer Wagner



Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Never Stop/Taking Me Home



On the train from Chicago
we are all colors, flavors—
caramel, dark, light.

A young couple, clad
all in red and white, waits near us;
soccer fans
heading back from
Liverpool FC v. Olympiacos.

I had noticed them earlier
on the way in—
laughing at photos on his phone,
their tan legs, intertwined.

And across from us now
an even younger couple,
dark chocolate skin, laughing, electric—
their delight in each other
making me feel like grinning silly,
floating too.

Young love
makes a strong point:  never stop flirting
with the one you want to keep.

She grabs his hand, massages,
notices a scar.
I catch a snippet of what
he says, there’s a story behind that.
Let me tell you

And I drift away
to the conductor nearing our seats,
hear you say, I lost our other ticket
blew onto the tracks

Don’t worry about it, he says—
waving your money away
with his face-consuming grin.

And we are on
to East Chicago,
where the roots of you grew—
leaning my head
on your shoulder
that for 16 years
I’ve trusted
to take me home.



© 2014 Jennifer Wagner



photo © 2014 Ian Wagner




Monday, August 4, 2014

recipes for hemlock


recipes for hemlock




Excited to have a poem of mine in the first anthology by Boston Poetry Magazine.  Editor Mike Jewett did an excellent job putting this together.  Click image to get your copy and check out some poetry from the dVerse community as well as the talented voices of some others included in this anthology.


Sunday, August 3, 2014

Firehouse


Our waitress
takes us down
to tour the cellar

added after
they bought the place.

They set it up
for private parties now
at Valentine’s Day.
President Bush (she doesn’t clarify which)
celebrated his birthday here once—she says

—and in
the close space
I contemplate
the smallness
of powerful men.

Up
we walk—
up, up
the staircase
to patrons
clinking glasses
and slicing
into crab encrusted steak.

We imagine
the horses
out back, back in the day,
as lovers
now sit
in the courtyard
sipping cabernet.

Higher,
we roam
the upper level in quiet,
look out onto the street,
the mist
of history
hanging
in the air.

Your voice
a half-whisper of awe,

it must
have been so cool
working out
of a station like this.

We descend
to the door,
to the sidewalk

and rain
greets us, pattering about
like a welcome home.



© 2014 Jennifer Wagner


Enjoyed our trip to the Chicago area, where my husband was born, to visit family and to celebrate our anniversary and birthdays.
 

Photo © 2014 Jennifer Wagner
(click link if you want to know more about this historic building)
Photo © 2014 Jennifer Wagner

 

Friday, August 1, 2014

Slice (Cinquain)


Malnati’s 
photo © 2014 Jennifer Wagner


deep dish
vine ripened plum tomatoes
fresh mozzarella and flaky, buttery crust
fork, knifeMalnati’s is a Chicago-style smile in
a slice


© 2014 Jennifer Wagner

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Poème, 16


The Ad Says:  Spirited. Adventurous. Intuitive.

Don’t change, you say,
inspired by the song of love triumphant
and the scent I wore when you first loved me.

You say you like it,
whatever it is,
when I curse myself
for being too much of this
or not enough of that.

And I guess that does about sum it up.

Even when I don’t,
you love me
as I am.



© 2014 Jennifer Wagner


In a few days my husband and I will celebrate our 16th Anniversary.  Poème is the fragrance I wore back when we first met and is also the title of a work by Amédée-Ernest Chausson which was originally subtitled The Song of Love Triumphant .


Saturday, July 19, 2014

Rant/Dance/Bleed/Fly…at the Poets Pub



Like a sweaty mosh pit?
Well no,
that’s not it,
exactly.

Like a rave?
With neon rainbows and ecstasy?
Nope, not that either.

Something a lot more classy—

or less,
depending on what’s on their minds.

Oh I get it,
like classic
rock ‘n’ roll.

Hmmthat’s good, too—
but no, it’s more than that,
more like
a symphony

of nations, tribes and tongues—
listening
to each other,
tasting
what they have to offer,
learning
there are many ways to rant/dance/bleed/fly.

Yes, yes
that’s more like it.

But
you can still
bring your Bic lighter
and bang your head
in the glow
if you want to.

Because whatever your preference,
they’re playing your song.




© 2014 Jennifer Wagner


Bring your crumpled paper, your scribbled on napkins, your laptops, your tablets for the dVerse Poets Pub 3rd Anniversary Celebration!  Brian and Claudia and the whole staff open the doors and invite any poet, anywhere to share their voice and to listen in.  I’m sure I join others in saying that I owe them a debt of gratitude for all the work and love they put into keeping the Pub going.  And to all the poets who gather there, you have enriched, enlightened, inspired—thank you for sharing your words.  Meet you there!