Vanessa Shields's Blog, page 34
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!
June 20, 2021
Poem 171 – Father
Father
Celestial snowball orbiting the sun
love-heated, glow-bursting for millions of miles
my soul’s lightbulb, everlasting universal phenomenon
his dust in my blood paternal platelets
Though his body is back in the sky
I feel his pull, the tug of his place in the formation
of the solar system we call family – ours with many suns
his brilliance coverage for each body that still breathes
that touches earth to ground him deeper into every
strand of lifetime his love expressed even
when his mouth did not have the language
I continue to translate his light
June 19, 2021
Poem 170 – laughter
Laughter
Awoke with laughter burrowing my breath
Body shaking from dreamland touching the morning
The aches of mRNA finally dissipating
Opening space in my marrow for an overflow of joy
What was so funny?
I could barely spit out words
Between snivels & snorts
A baggy dress
A head rest
In a theatre
On a ship
Oh what dreams do tell
That laughter crosses boundaries
Slips through realms
Pulls joy with her wherever she goes
Like a darling sister
A second soul
June 18, 2021
Poem 169 – Because we need this
Because we need this.
Hey, you
Look at me.
Look into my eyes.
I mean it –
Stop what you’re doing,
Come close,
Look into my eyes.
Give me your hands,
I want to feel your grasp.
I will not let go.
Keep looking into my eyes.
You.
I love you.
I love you so fu**ing much.
Okay?
June 17, 2021
Poem 168 – Declaration & Starred Independent Book Review for Thimbles!
Declaration
The water in the mountain stream was clear like true love
Cold like 5am on a winter morning stretch proud to be awake
When I gathered it in my palms it shocked me like a thousand
Pages of book paper cutting into me – magnificent
It wasn’t yesterday that we had this exchange
But moons and moons ago, yet like the sky holds a place
For each star, my body holds this memory as it waxes
& wanes & declares its light in fleeting exaltations
Independent Book Review
Thimbles is a painstakingly beautiful collection of poetry of love across generations. I highly recommend it.
Susan Morris, Independent Book Review, June 2021
A giant thank you to our friends at Independent Book Review for reading and offering a glowing review of Thimbles! Thank you Susan, for your heartfelt reading and response!
Independent Book Review celebrates small presses and self-published books. The full review will be up on their site soon! I’ll be sure to post a link, but in the meantime, do have a look (read!) at their website and enjoy the many amazing books they’ve reviewed!
June 16, 2021
Poem 167 – Sway
Sway
See the forest for its trees
Touch bark, caress wounds
Listen to the choir
of leaves opening
When a tree falls
It will – triumphantly
Be witness
Trust in the exchange
of delicate decay
& rebirth
Be the forest, hold its breeze
Expect to sway
June 15, 2021
Poem 166 – Missing I
Missing I
It’s true
Its person
Their sight
Over there
Is where
They wear
Their flare
They’re fair
In their
Sharing, still
Sometimes it’s
The smallest
Things they
Miss like
The Mrs.
Missing her
Right eye
While she
Writes out
The story
Of where
It went
Live on Instagram w/ Dream Poet For Hire!
On Monday, June 28th, at 8pm join myself and fellow poet-on-demand Marshall James Kavanaugh as we read poetry and talk poetry and write poetry! Discover the magic of writing a poem on the spot! Tell us what you want to us to write about! Featuring our magical typewriters!
We’re on instagram live starting at 8pm on the 28th.
Our handles:
@shieldsvanessa @dreampoetforhire
Pssst. That to the left is the poem that Marshall wrote for us when we met in New York City!
June 14, 2021
Poem 165 – After days of sunshine – a storm
after days of sunshine – a storm
morning is open & ominous
the sky shade of grey speaks
in tongues of coming tempest
my bones brace for bravery
but the rest of me is scared
rain falls in long lines
writes it messages into
the thirsty earth –
the maples love to read
a seed in me wants
to strip naked
run into the storm’s
raging womb – dig in
dance
decide to grow
in the tumultuous
terrain of thunder
