OCTOBER POET'S PEN SUMMARY & NEXT MEETING
 
Poet's Pen is a dedicated time to share our own and other poets' works, to allow time for writing/workshopping, and for closing with reading of works in progress. Six poets met on October 19 to listen, write, and read a variety of poems - and have a ton of fun! Please join us on Monday, November 30th at 4:30pm for our next gathering. Check lopezlibrary.org or email Beth for more information.
Poems Shared
Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings: Poems
by Joy Harjo

A musical, magical, resilient volume from the first Native American Poet Laureate of the United States. In these poems, the joys and struggles of the everyday are played against the grinding politics of being human. Beginning in a hotel room in the dark of a distant city, we travel through history and follow the memory of the Trail of Tears from the bend in the Tallapoosa River to a place near the Arkansas River. Stomp dance songs, blues, and jazz ballads echo throughout. Lost ancestors are recalled. Resilient songs are born, even as they grieve the loss of their country. Called a magician and a master (San Francisco Chronicle), Joy Harjo is at the top of her form in Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings.

BETH SHARED "FALL SONG"
Climate
by Whitney Hanson

From TikTok phenomenon Whitney Hanson, a revised edition of her bestselling Climate, now with a new introduction and more than a dozen new poems i don't worry about the weather anymore when it rains, i dance when the sun shines, i dance through it all, i will dance -from Climate Honest, poignant, and relatable, Climate is a journey in embracing change both internally and externally. It guides us through all the weather we may face, from the stormy heartbreak to the foggy mental space to the sunny other side. Climate reminds us to embrace it all. The only constant in life is change, and that is a beautiful thing--

LINDA SHARED A POEM FROM THE SECTION TITLED "FOGGY"
Pam shared her poem about her two cats
 
             "Gus and Lulu"
 
I don’t know what’s wrong
with Gus.
He fascinates Lulu
she tries to touch noses
 
goes right up to him,
expecting a partner
to play with. But he’s
not having it.
 
When Gracie died I thought
a tiny female kitten
would be the best match.
 
Now he hisses and swipes
won’t come in at night
only shows up for meals.
He was so attached to Gracie,
 
quiet, shy, submissive
For nine years 
he groomed her and cuddled
always side by side.
 
Gus likes to lead,
it’s his nature.
But Lulu is the same,
she’s headstrong.
.
Undeterred by rejection,
Lulu won’t engage
in anything but play,
that she always initiates
 
which Gus just hates
though her buoyant persistence  
is wearing him down.
 
What Gus is learning from Lulu
she knew from the start,
Gender doesn’t matter
in matters of the heart.
 
                        Pam Pulver, Poet’s Pen 10/21/26
 
Nikyta shared "Night Swimming" by Joseph Fasano.
 
Becky shared a haiku she wrote some time ago for a family member.
Writing Time
Prompt: Write a poem inspired by the questions in Mary Oliver's poem, "Gratitude" (click on the link to read the entire poem):
What did you notice?
What did you hear?
When did you admire?
What astonished you?
What would you like to see again?
What was most tender?
What was most wonderful?
What did you think was happening?
 
**************************
 
The metronomic chip of Pacific Wren
Angry groan of accelerating cars
Chill as sheets snap over the sun
 
The sheen on a breeze-bounced apple
Light on dancing red leaves
The concentration in writer's faces
 
Towhee tipping through the rose hedge
 
My Ash dog, merle-grey
curled into a perfect circle
My Teal dog, fifty pounds of Black Lab
draped across David's lap
 
My name on his lips
The way our hands fit together
 
Living and working in shrubsteppe greys and greens
Nighthawks over a night-lit table-land
Counting ducks on a spring-sprung lake
Sleeping in the old cabin with the mice and the blue wood stove
 
Manic cry of Swifts
Curve of doe's neck
Sheep-baa of Spadefoot Toad
 
Grace guiding our hands forward
 
                                -Beth SG
 
**************************
 
I wasn't noticing much
but when the tree knocked
my hat right off
like a gleeful teen
 
daring me not to laugh
at this new moment
 
of a grey day
wet with heavy clouds
and dense stubborn spirits
swinging low in the branches--
 
I noticed how little I was noticing
and how I was carrying this unnoticing
like a shameful personal burden
instead of a fact of modern life
 
Then I noticed how I had just remembered how
in the pictures of us from a year ago,
my eyes don't look right
 
like I'm possessed by a soul almost mine
but not quite
the eeriest kind of haunting
 
I was almost astonished when
the knot in my back was met perfectly
by a knot in the tree when I sat under it
seeking solace & support
from a living being
and receiving playful pranks and
precise pleasing pressure
 
I am on both sides of almost astonished today
 
                                -Ellen Z
 
While sharing our poems, a large flock of Snow Geese flew high overhead (good spot, Ellen!). As we packed up to leave, Pam said:
 
"The snow geese were the best poem."