Poems
During April, in recognition of National Poetry Month, The Martha's Vineyard Times will publish selected work of Island poets.
I Dreamed I Saw a Great Big Bear
I dreamed I saw
a great big bear
alive as you or me
wearin' red hightop
Converse Chucks
blues harp in his teeth
Slide guitar across his knees
he thumped a steady beat
wailing yowling caterwauling
up from his gut deep down
somewhere that you cannot touch
that reaches out and grabs you
by your soul's throat
chokes the love outta you
makes you want to cry
for all the times you let
your man or woman down
for all the times you felt alone
for all the times you needed someone
just to listen
West Tisbury resident Michael West is a member of Hot Words, and co-organizes Island Voices Poetry Series with Linda Black.
E.D. Throws Away Poem One Seven Seven Six
She is at her desk
late in the day
looking out at the orchard
and barn, at the lover's path
between, and all beginning
to quiet. The cows in the stalls,
the bees returning to hive.
The day long.
The dying deep.
The blotter clear but for one sheet
a few words and dashes
crumpled and left
for the housekeeper
to remove before dinner.
Clark Myers of Tisbury is a member of Featherstone Poets and has been published in local journals.
Reconciliation
Peonies swell, burst,
flame, fall over,
ecstatic with the weight
of their pink perfume.
Jays shriek with laughter,
sharing jokes with the crows.
Lilacs fling confetti
to the blissful breeze,
a litter of lavender dreams.
Inside, I sing at the window
as a cup and its saucer
step out of their sudsy tub
and like lovers, steaming,
towel each other dry.
As the clothes fold themselves,
sheets slide neatly
across the mattress, and a quilt
that had slithered, dreamily,
to the floor, picks itself up
and lies down, tenderly, on top.
In the stillness,
I am dancing to music unheard
for years, for I have been gone
and am now, just now
coming home.
Laura D. Roosevelt is a poet and freelance writer who lives in West Tisbury.
