A Daily Dose of Poetry

A Hundred Falling Veils

• Meditation November 30, 2023
  On clear moonless nightsin the darkest places,light from the milky waycasts shadows here on earth.I think of how light itselfis the obstacle for seeingother breathtaking kinds of light,much as I, too,am my own obstacle,my longing to shinesometimes interferingwith that humble, soul-stirring lightI need to close my eyes to see.
  Rosemerry
• Here, Too November 29, 2023
   Everywhere a starting place.Every room. Every street.Every line in the sand.Every hand extended.Every door that’s locked.Every loosening dream. Every knot.Every choice. Every crash.Every triumph. Every touch.Every word. Every window.Every loss. We are always,always starting, re-starting.With this breath. This unease.This flow. This wild pouringof self into the moment.This resistance. This lack.This uncertainty. This flaming.This stuck in […]
  Rosemerry
• Interlude November 28, 2023
  Sometimes, waiting for the poem to come,I lean in, eyes closed, lips parted,edging wonder, unsure what comes next—my heart a fluttering and tremblesome thing.It’s like being seventeen again, wonderingif the boy beside me and I will kiss.I love this flirty interlude when the poembarely touches my lips with a brushso light I wonder if I’m […]
  Rosemerry
• One Vacation November 27, 2023
  joy in the city—we return hometo sleep like mountains
  Rosemerry
• Waiting for the Planes November 27, 2023
  Hello urge to be productive.Aren’t you so sincere?I see how you thinkbecause there is nothing to dobut wait for the next two hours,wait for the next five hours,wait for the next seven hours,you think I should do somethinguseful and industrious,something practical and time efficient.Something generative.As if to sit and do nothingis not a gift.As if […]
  Rosemerry
• Two Thousand Three Hundred Thirty-two Miles from Home November 25, 2023
              for Brad & James  There in the lobby of the Musée des Beaux Arts,I walked out of an exhibit to find my daughtersitting on a long bright red couchbeside the sweet husband of my beloved friend.And though I enjoyed each curated installation we saw,nothing compared to this art of surprise, of love. It was like stepping […]
  Rosemerry
• The Joy of Repetition November 24, 2023
  at the Palais Montcalm  Just because I’ve been grateful beforedoesn’t make today’s gratefulness any less true—I think of Beethoven who fell in lovewith a melody by Mozart,then wrote seven variations for cello and piano—one minor, one song-like,three written in different times,but each variation at heart the same.I think of the joy on the young cellist’s face […]
  Rosemerry
• It’s Like This November 23, 2023
   “The odds of you being alive are basically zero.”—Dina Spector reporting the work of Dr. Ali Binazir, Business Insider, June 11, 2012  It’s like this. The sun itselfis constantly moving through space,and yet it never leaves us.Add this to the list of marvels—like how a glass of waterwas once a cloud,like how love can grow in […]
  Rosemerry
• With a Glass of Valpolicella November 22, 2023
  at Parmesan, in Vieux-Québec  We hum along as the gentle old manplays accordion beside our table,his fingers nimble, his eyes closed,and we smile as he sings in Frenchof autumn leaves and how lifeseparates those who love each other.This is how the heart learns to breakand to soften at the same time.With a sway, he keeps coaxingthe […]
  Rosemerry
• Ten Minutes of Embracing Grief & Joy November 22, 2023
  What a Thanksgiving gift! I feel so crazy lucky that Jennifer Kent of University of Nevada–Reno created this beautiful 10-minute video as part of their UNR-Lake Tahoe speaker series. Shot at the Lake Tahoe campus in September 2023, it features me reading three poems–“For When People Ask,” “Simple Tools” and “Untamed”–and also conversing about how […]
  Rosemerry