Friday, August 14, 2015

Poems Published




















 



Richard Murray

I have some poems published in The Day After.  Art Access and the Utah Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (UCAN) produced the book in reverence and observance of the 70th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Here is one of them:

Pete's Bones

In my child's mind
I gauge the distance from the porch
to the woods,
hear the sound of the shot
splitting the slender aspen
on the hillside.

Grandpa didn't know the cougar's name was Pete,
or that I laid out pans of food behind the outhouse.
At night, Pete's cries broke the stillness
and filled my soul with wild promise,
but it triggered the hunter in Gramps.
He didn't question whether Pete was happy or sad or
whether his eyes were open or closed
when the shot caught him mid-breath.

Today, the earth beneath the outhouse has sunk
as I stand on the rooftop of my story,
singing life back into Pete's bones.
I think something in the air
bends and rises each time I tell it.

Even now, Mary,
my look-alike, my daughter,
is filling up her lap
with all my fierce hope.

29 comments:

  1. Ooh... I love: 'as I stand on the rooftop of my story,' and, indeed, all of it.

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  2. Wow! Great poem. Poor Pete.

    Your Grandfather's not Walter Palmer, is he?

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  3. Killer ending. I love how you imbue your child with your child you's hope, how you take the reader full circle -- suggesting through form that we think through all the the poem's contents to completion...

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    1. Rae, Thanks for your thoughtful comment. Your opinion means a lot to me.

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  4. great to read your poetry (again; it's been awhile). so pleased for you that your talent has been recognized with this new publication!

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    1. Thanks, Susan. Glad you stopped by.

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  5. What a wild, lovely piece.

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    1. Thanks, Maria. I'm glad you like the wild aspect of the piece.

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  6. A moving and evocative piece this. I’ve read it over several times. There is an uncomfortableness about it I like but then I’m a bit like you that way. I like it when the other shoe hangs in mid-air.

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  7. Kass,
    I wanted to Thank You for the kind comment on Watson's post.

    cheers, gayle

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  8. A stunning and haunting poem, Kass. Wow, you certainly can write. Words that tug into the recesses of my mind and set my imagination running.

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    1. Thanks, Elisabeth. I'm glad you liked it.

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  9. I know that place is such a powerful part of you and your story. That comes through so clearly in the poem, told not through geography but circumstance, details. How did I not see this when you shared it in August? I'm glad I came back because of your exchange with Elisabeth. Congratulations on the publication. xo

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    1. Thank you so much, Marylinn. I appreciate your consideration of my story and I appreciate how much of yourself you share through your blog.

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  10. This must please you to no end - justifiably and understandably - you deserve that and more. Leslie Morgan - your friend some time ag0

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