Lugano – Ilse Kramer

LUGANO

By Ilse Kramer

Two bags – I always travel light
The train man blows his whistle
All aboard
I feebly wave good-bye

And through the window
(Don’t lean out)
I see the bottom of the sky
And here and there a herd of heavy cows

Look in the distance
Mountain ranges
And darkish lakes
And after that

More mountains
And more lakes
Where will it end
When will the beauty be too much for me

I eat a peach
And drops of juice
Keep falling in my lap
Sweet tears

I am so tired but I wonder
Will we keep moving
When I am
Asleep

Where is my ticket
What if
They throw me
Off the train

This after all
Is not a journey home
I know the name
Of where I’m going
But don’t know will it meet
My heart’s desire


Ilse Kramer is the Poet Laureate of Central Congregational Church.

Hiking with the Children – Gretchen Yealy

Hiking with the Children

By Gretchen Yealy

How much farther?
Asked the smallest one.

The last mile is always the longest,
Sighed the tired mother.

Are we there yet?
Asked the middle child.

How shall we define “there,”
Mused the philosophical mother.

What will we do when we get there?
Asked the oldest child.

Only then shall we realize that the journey itself was our delight,
Thought the wise mother.


When she is not clambering up and down mountain passes, Gretchen Yealy works as a catalog librarian at Brown University.

Haiku to the Mystic – George Delany

Haiku to the MysticSophie

By George Delany

Just after the shot

We locked eyes, yours to mine and

I kissed you farewell


 

George Delany is an artist, designer and co-instigator behind many special projects at Central Church – including this website.

Sandy – By Ilse Kramer

S a n d y

By Ilse Kramer

The one tree we can see

Through the window

Has seizures.

 

We hear that elsewhere

They shovel sand into bags.

The waves are giants

Beating their chest.

Small children drown

In endless water.

 

We on the hill are safe,

Sharing the storm

And afterwards stillness.

 

What have we done to be spared?

Ordinary Day – Anna Tanalski

Ordinary Day

By  Anna Tanalski

A butterfly’s flight draws near

And tickles my nose

With a taste of candlelit prose

Words flowing through my veins

Rhythms of a heartbeat

Stuck like the concrete on Main Street

Taught red ribbons twisted around my soul

Pulling me in one direction

A whiff of sweet confection

Galaxies beneath my feet

Ripped up pages thrown to the side

The tears rip deeper on the inside

Foggy breath on the window

I trace my name and it fades away

It’s just another ordinary day

Musings and Puzzles

All kept within my pocket

My imagination shoots off like a rocket

Paper doll strings hanging above my head

Questions unanswered

Answers unsaid

It’s just another ordinary day

Lips painted scarlet

And the sky turns to gray


Anna Tanalski is 15 years old and in 10th grade.… [Read More]

No Herrings – Ilse Kramer

No Herrings

By Ilse Kramer

The angel who lives in
The stained-glass window
Depicting the Heavenly City
Winks at the sexton
Who is cleaning
The baptismal font

He takes a walk to India Point
I mean the sexton and not the angel
Don’t you know angels don’t walk they fly
He fishes yesterday’s donuts
Out of his pocket
And feeds the sea gulls

The sexton sits on the bench
At India Point
The angel has followed
But declines the donut
Angels carry rations
Of manna

The angel says to the whitest gull
Come see me at home
The gull says perhaps
Are there herrings
In the Heavenly City
No herrings?… [Read More]

On Aging – Jan Corbett

On Aging

By Jan Corbett

There is here.
Then is now.
Dreams are memories
decayed… somehow
Life circles back
End to beginning to end,
And time shapes a womb
Again.


Jan Corbett is a retired English professor who has published two nonfiction books and many articles in small magazines and academic journals but she is just beginning to write her own poetry. Her other interests include oil painting classes at RISD’s extension campus in Barrington and participation in a local peace organization.

Spring Senses – May Grant

SPRING SENSES

By May Grant

Breeze still bitter,
Robin’s image jells like ice.

Sounds still muffled,
Robin’s music throbs a rhythm.
Homes still huddled,
Robin’s feather wafts from heaven.

Seeds still curling,
Robin tastes each worm anew.

Scents still buried,
Robin shouts

I’m Here,

I’m Love,

I’m You!

© 2011  May Cornelia Grant


May Cornelia Grant has been writing all her life, non-professionally. Her articles have appeared in numerous small magazines and newspapers.

Transfiguration – May Grant

TRANSFIGURATION

By May Grant

The ground is littered with my babies.
The dead poems lie in snowbanks,
serene and sere.

When did my words arrive stillborn?
When did my rhyme turn icy cold?
Here and there a tiny fingernail,
a turn of phrase like a rosy cheek,
a metered leg lies still.

But now they rise like dawn’s sharp edge.
The wind knocks on dark church doors.
White-rimmed and strong, my wings toss and climb.

The ground lies littered with my flowers,
white and pink and tan
raise their fingered arms to the sky,
children tall and strong.… [Read More]

Haiku to Climate Change – George Delany

Haiku to Climate Change

by George Delany

In February
No cold, no snow, a hearty
Dandelion blooms


George Delany is an artist, designer and co-instigator behind many special projects at Central Church – including this website.