Two Poems
Dear God
I saw your billboard today – the one you signed,
the one that said: Life is short.
Eternity isn’t.
God
I wondered about your punctuation, why you created two
stand-alone sentences. I would have used a semicolon
because it seems more powerful to connect the two –
you know, like dying may seem scary on its own
but if you think this short life is like a day in the park compared
to what comes next, the threat of eternity really picks up some steam.
I’m sorry – it’s presumptuous of me to instruct You on punctuation
but I feel more and more presumptuous these days. It could be eternity
but I think it’s really just another day looming like the next eight or 10 hours
and all it will take to make my way through. I’m tired,
you know? You must know. Have you ever considered
reincarnation – how nice it might be to have a good long rest as a tree, rooted
in earth but able to rustle and sway? It sounds pretty great to me.
The thing is, I’m not clear about your whole eternity plan. Keeping people out –
that part feels familiar – it’s pretty much the way things work around here too.
But have you ever considered just letting us all in – every single person
you made no matter what our short lives offered
or withheld? I don’t know. It is lovely to think about
though. I like to picture you pondering it; (semicolon)
I like to picture you considering the possibility of another way.
Northern Spring Peeper
You’re a nickel
of a thing, same
color,you fling
yourself akimbo and not
like a frog at all.
You’re a child
no matterhow old,
you heedless bit,
squashable from lack
of consideration
for stomp,
you and your
careless gaze.
No grace, no reason,
all go. Plaintive peanut
of perpetual resound.
You common
implausibility,
intimate
with ground.
Water born
lung breatheryou
too small to be called
quitswhen come
what may. You’re hope
looking down, every kind
of possibility
unbound.
Ribbons and Moths is for children. But it is also for children of all ages.
There is so much pleasure in Laura’s images: llamas, harvest, cats and kittens, the moon, wise dogs and children, … the faith of farmers working in “the crumbly black earth,” ... “beds of sparrows,” [and] milkweed pod fluff .... Even the Table of Contents is a poem, a delight ... Treasured in these poems are ... images full of caring, humor, charm, and joy. Special moments of awareness shine like small windows ... such as the pony’s warm thick fur parting along her spine with winter’s icicles dripping down her sides.
—Joan Hopkins Coughlin, artist, owner of Golden Cod Gallery
Pushcart Prize winner Laura Rodley is a septuple Pushcart Prize nominee and quintuple Best of the Net nominee. She edited and published As You Write It, A Franklin County Anthology I-VI, and As You Write It Lucky 7, seven collections of memoirs from seniors she taught at the Gill Montague Senior Center. Her latest books are Turn Left at Normal (Big Table Publishing) and Counter Point (Prolific Press), a work in fiction about the real-life Whydah that floundered and sank off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, on April 26, 1717.
Click here to watch the book trailer.
Available from Amazon and through the publisher, Kelsay Books.
For more about the poet, go to www.LauraRodley.com
Susan Carlson lives and works in southeastern Michigan. Her work has appeared in various journals including Passager, River Heron Review, Gyroscope Review, Typishly, and Persimmon Tree and has been nominated for Best of the Net.
With degrees in Asian history, Lynn B. Connor planned to be an academic. That was short-lived. She realized that sharing stories that explore other times and places is what she enjoyed. Her stories and poems have appeared in literary journals over the last fifty years. A few years ago she remembered the title of a book, Painting with Light, which she’d read as a teenager. The only thing she remembered about it was the title, but that made her see differently when taking a photo. Go to
Both of these poems are so engaging! Iparituclarly like your letter to God. Such good questions!!!
Carol and Alicia, thank you so much for your kind words! I really appreciate you sharing your feedback with me! Susan
I really adore both of these poems. These joyful and real words touched my heart today.
Both of your poems, Susan, powerfully impacted me as I began my writing day today. The voice in each felt familiar and comfortable—delighting but also encouraging me to keep my own voice (poetic and otherwise) strong. These are simply wonderful!