Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Read the latest from my poetry blog, “A Hundred Falling Veils“, where there’s a poem in every day. You can use this link to subscribe.
A Hundred Falling Veils
- Suzanne Valadon Speaks to Renoir’s Wife March 12, 2026You thought you could erase our affairthe way you erased from his painting my face,but everyone knew it was me—my head flung back in laughter,my gaze on his lips as he painted my bliss.Perhaps it’s his child who runsnow through my rooms. Perhaps not.I remember his hands,his firm touch as he movedmy body just so, […]Rosemerry
- Sharing Our Humanness March 11, 2026with thanks to James Crews My friend James calls it the rough blessing,the blessing that rubs, that chafes,that scrapes. Perhaps I wanted blessingsto only feel good, to be gentle. But the word itselfcomes from the practice of sprinkling bloodon an altar. Why should I be surprised whenthe blood for the rite is my own? […]Rosemerry
- Sometimes When I’m Quiet, I Think of Art Goodtimes March 10, 2026I hear the beat of his hand on the drum as he chants,We are an old people, we are a new people, we arethe same people deeper than before. I have seenhis body explode with poetic energy, sparks leapingfrom his fingers, his full voice booming inside my cellslike monsoon thunder in the mountains, and knowinghow […]Rosemerry
- After Carmell Tells Me about Her Trip to India March 9, 2026And when the gates swung wide and my friend arrived at the palace, the vast grounds were emerald and lush, lined with tropical trees, and a full staff greeted her at the great door where a man led her through a courtyard filled with night-blooming jasmine spilling their sweet scent into the dark, and just […]Rosemerry
- While Listening to Others Talk about Poems in Small Groups March 8, 2026Their voices soundlike giddy beesas phrases swirland interweaveand poems openlike peonies—a hush comes inlike a gentle breezeas their wonder lands,wades deeper into gather any goldthat sticks,and though I cannothear what anyone voice is saying,I taste with earsinside the buzzall the glorious makingsof honey.Rosemerry
- One in the Blizzard March 7, 2026following tire tracks in the snowthe whole worldreduced to two linesRosemerry
- The Single Instant March 6, 2026Inspired by Camille Claudel’s sculpture “The Wave” Almost like a fistthe great wave of warrises now, arching,all froth and force,and in the single instantbefore the crash,before our demise is castin onyx or bronze,before everythingwe’ve made is smashedlike plaster on the floor,this chance to conceivethe world as it could be,the chance to takeeach other’s handsand hold them […]Rosemerry
- Orbit March 5, 2026I thought I was holding grief.Tonight I see grief is holding me.Not with a vice grip. Not with a fist.More the way gravityholds the earth to the sun—a force without which our planetwould lose all warmth, all life.Love has many names. Grief is one,and I am grateful tonight for the wayit tethers me not only […]Rosemerry
- Formative March 4, 2026I would sit in the circle,gut flopping like a fishwhile the fox walked aroundto pat us each on the head.Duck. Duck. Duck.Bright fizz of adrenalinefrothing in the bloodas the hand came closer.Duck. Duck.Please pick me. Don’t pick me.Half wanting to be chosen,half wanting not,because I was the childwho had to stew in the potfor five […]Rosemerry
- The Last Parent Teacher Conferences March 3, 2026If I were like Suzanne Valadon,fearlessly painting self-portraits as I age,I would paint this momentwhen I wander the high school hallsbetween teacher conferences, this momentwhen I’m so full of love for the girlwho will graduate this springthat I’m weeping and laughingbeside yellow lockers and postersfor basketball games. Gratefulnesscan break a heart open as easily as […]Rosemerry