I hear the end of summer in their wild honking, in the restless language of their flight. How on this early morning in late July, I have been expecting them. I visualize them landing noisily, and resting in the field of the old elementary school behind my house- at least thirty of them pecking at […]
Poetry Corner: Johanna Ely “Why Every Night I Keep a Lamp Lit”
In my house I keep a glass lamp by the front door. It is in the shape of a tulip, and inside it, a light bulb flickers in the shape of a tear. I keep it lit all night long— a small comfort for those who are lost, for ghosts who believe they have been […]
Poetry Corner: Johanna Ely “Build a Library”
Build a library where 7,000 books become 100,000, where children with Teddy bears listen to stories until they fall asleep, and teens study late into the evening, cell phones left on vibrate— where neighbors meet to hear a famous author speak, or a musician play guitar. Build a library where literacy is a free gift, […]
Poetry Corner: Johanna Ely “A Pair of Haiku”
Haiku for Carolyn Under the white plum— a snowstorm of memories covers two old friends Old Woman Haiku By the open door an old woman undresses— the moon her voyeur
Poetry Corner: Johanna Ely “Listen Up!”
A poem is not a painting, so don’t just look at it. Don’t keep it silent. It is a song of celebration to sing to hum to chant to a god with an attentive ear. Croon it to the marsh grasses who sway to its rhythm. Shout it out to the early morning crow who […]
Poetry Corner: Johanna Ely “Spring Evening”
A sigh of remembrance as I drive home. The fields on this side of the freeway still flower green, as the moon, almost full, rises over dusky cows dotting a hillside. Clusters of oak trees darken to a deeper hue, long, thin clouds drift across a grey sky— a last gasp of brilliant pink fades […]
Poetry Corner: Johanna Ely “I am Tired of Waking Up to the Faces of Dead Children”
I am tired of waking up to the faces of dead children who smile at me from the T.V. or computer screen. I want to tell them they are not dead. I want to reach down into the earth into the ashes and resurrect them— pull them up by their bones and hug them to […]
Poetry Corner: Johanna Ely “What the Rain Has”
This rain has a silver tongue to taste the sweet silence of morning. It has lungs to breathe in the dawn’s goodbye— a last glance looking back over a shoulder of dark clouds. It has lips to mouth all the unspoken words caught in a dream. Listen! Rata-tat-tat— hard drops on skylight glass. This rain […]
Poetry Corner: Johanna Ely “Snowtown”
It’s a little town that comes to life only once a year— just three cheerful buildings that look like they’re made of gingerbread and white icing, set down carefully along the edge of a fireplace mantle. The miniature snow men and snow women stroll between the bakery and the post office, their arms filled with […]
Poetry Corner: Johanna Ely “Thanksgiving”
I am thankful for what is unpredictable— the sudden gush of rain, the lightning and the thunder— the insistence from this world to pay attention. I delight in colors indigo and orange, what gels into a sunset. I’m elated for what begins again— the wide-eyed dawn, the seasons that return in cycles of joy. But […]