Vanessa Shields's Blog, page 33
June 30, 2021
Poem 181 – 4:44
4:44
three fours in bright light
after a finger tap to my phone
alert & open to the incoming
significance of this number
a trifecta of angel message
convergence after four storms
pounded their palms on my path
I’m not afraid this time rather
in awe – persevering through the
thick muck of worry to dance
in the torrential downpour of
trusting my foundations
cleansed & vibrating
in the reverberation
of four’s
steady
song
June 29, 2021
Poem 180 – Singularly Motivated Mysteries & Thank you, Marshall!
Singularly Motivated Mysteries
Out of nowhere
a white smear
on the belly
of my crisp
black dress
Like a single sock
peeking its heel
from under the
bed or a lonely
fingernail caught
in the dog dust
like a colourless
rainbow these
Mysterious household
phenomenon appear
sometimes in passing
or in the peripheral or
right smack in the
centre of my favourite
black dress
I changed into another
dress this one black too
but dappled with white
moons in fulls & quarters
in waxes & wanes
I bet this dress
won’t get caught
in a curious smudge
these mysteries
like to work
alone
Instagram Live Event a Wow-er!A heartfelt thank you to #dreampoetforhire Marshall James Kavanaugh for a wow-er of a live instagram event last evening! We talked poetry, we read poetry, we wrote poetry – together! It was sooo very magical and cool, and it wrapped me up in a grand hug of ‘community’. That is, the world-wide community of creative people, who share their hearts and minds and create magic every where they go! From haikus in national parks to poems on demand at intimate festivals, poetry is alive and thriving! Thank you Marshall for sharing your poetry heart with us!
Photography by Miller Shields
June 28, 2021
Poem 179 – Flat Tire & TONIGHT AT 8PM INSTAGRAM LIVE EVENT!
Flat tire
the pop sound was hollow
like a giant pulling the inside of his cheek
with his two fingers – the car tire
punctured
then thwhawp-thwhawp-thwhawp a flapping
like the throat of a mainsail caught in a bitter wind
I pulled the car over
relieved a side street was available
for sanctuary to inspect the damage
it was easy to spot – a large gold hook
eye wide staring up at us then the hiss
of an evil with post-curse hissssssss
the tire flattened as we watched
our skin sweating in the swelter of
afternoon sun and we learned how
to change a tire – it was invigorating
the spare painted yellow like a shy flower
holds up the back of the vehicle
does its best to move us
knowing its adventure is temporary
SEE YOU TONIGHT ON INSTAGRAM AT 8PM!
Join us for poetry, poetry and a bit more poetry!
@shieldsvanessa
@dreampoetforhire
June 27, 2021
Poem 178 – wind in maples
wind in maples
the maple leaves are tired
their tips turned in to funnel the wind
the wind that hasn’t quit for days
it’s exhausting – all that swaying
all that noise
the out-of-control of it all
they have been bowing down for hours
reaching for the moist earth for something
to hold onto other than themselves
in pauses between gusts
I can hear them
their subtle release like bones bracing
under muscle contracting
that physical weep before
panic or elation
before the rigorous repetition of living
June 26, 2021
Poem 177 – lunch with the women in honour of Nonna
lunch with the women in honour of Nonna
fat rain on her grave
she wasn’t there anyway
in our laughs she joined
THIS MONDAY AT 8PM! INSTAGRAM LIVE!
I’ve never done Instagram live before, so for that reason alone you should definitely join us! Witness me trying on a new thang – including getting me and my typewriter in the shot! – with the fabulously talented, traveling poet, aka Dream Poet for Hire, Marshall James Kavanaugh. Marshall will be in Philadelphia. I’ll be in Windsor. Together we’ll write you poems, and give a live lowdown on how we write poetry on the spot! It’ll be super cool! Plus, we’ll each read from our new books, and talk about why the best job in the world is being a poet!
Join us!
@shieldsvanessa
@dreampoetforhire
June 25, 2021
Poem 176 – One Year Ago
One year ago
as I slept,
you slipped
your sun-fire soul
into Dolomite mountain
heaven – since then
I’ve been climbing out
of loss, my fingers bloodied
with poetry tethered to the
stardust your laughter left behind.
You swoop in on the lip-red
wings of a cardinal or poke
the wind in the miraculous body
of a dragonfly. Earlier this week,
you got tangled in a spider web,
on purpose, Mom told me, your
mischief dazzling in dewy morning heat.
We’re going to the graveyard
to stand on your bones – the women
four generations thick, though we
each carry pieces of you in our bodies
holding your legacy in our limbs
pushing grief aside like a small mound
of clipped-off thread and remnants
from the wedding dress you made
yourself, its hem still wet from the
ocean water you crossed to get here.
And you are here
even though you are not.
This paradox, like silk under wool,
like crinoline under cotton. We wear
you like each day is a grand ball
in your honour. Some days we weep
in the corners. Others we waltz
barefoot in the kitchen.
Today we press together,
your heart-made pattern,
and sew you with our words
into a place at the table.
I love you, Nonna!
Maria Giuditta Merlo Bison, my beautiful Nonna!
June 24, 2021
Poem 175 – History’s Elegy
History’s Elegy
history reveals itself
skinless
dirt-smeared
violently deep
yet never unaware
of its voice
things buried grow
seep
speak
a language
tongued by shadow
history reveals
skin
June 23, 2021
Poem 174 – Haiku for a busy day
Haiku for a busy day
From breath to breath fold
Into moment’s precious notes
Choose Now’s melody
June 22, 2021
Poem 173 – The Tower, Her Insistence
The Tower, Her Insistence
When I was stepping inside the skeleton spine
of the Eiffel Tower, I was avoiding touching
the sturdy metal railings, avoiding inhaling
the musk of the man ahead of me, avoiding
looking down as my thrumming legs lifted
me closer to the sky.
I felt in a cage. Completely embraced by
a structure that could never know me
or anyone who tore up its insides
day after day. But when I reached the top,
the highest point I was allowed to go,
me or anyone, and I looked beyond her bones
That’s when she slipped under my lungs,
held my breath said c’est la vie.
I wept at her tone. Her insistence of the
words, not fleeting or shoulder shrugged
not greeting card or slogan, but
strict commanding, each word
its own door: c’est la vie.
I weep now at the shadow of her
tender pull that remains like an
X-ray black dot on my left lung,
malignant with hope and purpose,
a flag of remembrance waving
at my heart.
June 21, 2021
Poem 172 – Lightning Queen & Poetry Event!
Lightning Queen
solstice song vibrates my bones
there’s a hum in my left ear
a deep-throated ode to seeds
that storm – She really gave it to us
slapped awake my reverence
like a rug being beaten
I am the rug
Her power beats me clean
of any nonsense beyond
the fact that She is the lightning queen
I should never fear Her rightful wrath
but mimic its wild rug-beating
outbursts on my inner landscape
embrace the pleasure of stormy living
on bended knee I express my gratitude
oh lasting thundering tumult!
welcome summer goddess!
Witch of knowing thyself –
your planted seeds root in me
I am your light garden
ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!
Join me and Dream Poet for Hire, Marshall James Kavanaugh, on Instagram on Monday, June 28th at 8pm. We’ll be talking about our poetry lives, our new books, and then – writing poetry *live* for you! Watch as we each write poems with your thematic guidance, and see how we create poems on demand as we talk out what our brains our telling us as we write! It’ll be something!
Joining us means you’ll have the opportunity to suggest a theme, and then we’ll send you the poem we write!
There’s no link, just hop on Instagram at 8pm and we’ll be ‘live’!
See you then!
