Sunday, October 29, 2017






I’m currently working on a series of poems about the women who have held our family like lifeboats afloat over the last two centuries. Most of the men in my family tree, especially on my father’s side, died young. I had one grandfather until I was six and lost my father when I was fourteen. This poem is the title poem, in both past tense and present tense. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

Lifeboats

You were our lifeboats
You alone carried our lost souls grieving
away from a sinking ship, the larger vessel
torpedoed, striking an unseen iceberg,
blowing an engine, adrift
in a wide open ocean with a broken
mast, a torn sail, our wooden boats
ablaze, smoke billowing under
the stars where all hope abandoned
families in the wake of disease 
and debt. We bid our men and our lack
of grandfathers farewell on their wrecked
ships and rowed forward through the piercing
fog, steering clear of some of the jagged
rocks, desperate to hold the roar
of the long falls behind our backs.
You were our life jackets and
without you, we would not
remain afloat.


Lifeboats

You are our lifeboats
You alone carry our lost souls grieving
away from a sinking ship, the larger vessel
torpedoed, striking an unseen iceberg,
blowing an engine, adrift
In a wide open ocean with a broken
mast, a torn sail, our wooden boats
ablaze, smoke billowing under
the stars where all hope abandons
families in the wake of disease 
and debt. We bid our men and our lack
of grandfathers farewell on their wrecked
ships and row forward through the piercing
fog, steering clear of the jagged
rocks, desperate to hold the roar
of the long falls behind our backs.
You are our life jackets and
without you, we will not
remain afloat.


Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Additional information about Motion Poems and Slam Poetry

Thanks to everyone who attended the meeting last night in Maryville. Thank you Amy for treats and all those who listened to my ramblings about poetry. Here are some links to some of the things we discussed.

YouTube site
I’m particularly fond of these performers:
Reagan Myers: The Girl Becomes Gasoline (from Lincoln, NE)
Sam Cooke : Flatland
Neil Hilborn: OCD
Jesse Parent: To the Boys Who One Day May Date My Daughter
There are also links here for Slam Poetry—you might check them out also
Here’s a link to the Louder Than a Bomb competition in Nebraska