About Trolls

Fremont Troll, Seattle, WA

Image © 2016 Jennifer Wagner

Stand strong,

there are real-life trolls out there—

small people

who’ll try

to steal your sweetness, your flame,

consume your fire by night,

snuff out your compass cloud.

You must stand strong.

But, if they’re big enough

to take your Volkswagen, with one hand—

run!

© 2016 Jennifer Wagner

Grandma's Picnic Table

Paint peeling, wood splitting,

flies swarming her trailer, sweltering heat

in that clay and lime town—

but, oh! the tart and bubbling rhubarb crisp,

the spicy-sweet hot mustard,

the savory scent

of the best, the best, fried chicken

any of us had ever eaten.

Poor—and rich—

all the difference

in the crinkle-cut corner

of her laugh-rippled eyes.

© 2016 Jennifer Wagner

For dVerse Poetics

A Survivor's Credo

(and nature’s echo)

In spite of adversity, I will be

lavishly happy.

I won’t

bear the shame not mine.

I will not

punish myself

for the ugliness of another.

And, I will see

the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living.

sunshine on wildflowers,

creek beds rippling coolly—

a doe bends, sips

                       

she sighs heavily, light

with the headiness

of goodness after rain

© 2016 Jennifer Wagner