nature – Page 10 – Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry

Nimue

June 12, 2013June 12, 2013 ROMPoetry

The place where I found to rest was thick
With chamomile. I lay my head against its spongy,
Fragile stems and closed my eyes to the ants
Intoxicated by the scent, climbing toward heaven,
Or what an ant can know of it.

Soft, soft. Come now. Leave the door ajar.
Nimue, Nimue . . . you are not swift enough
You linger, come away. Leave it.
Leave the door ajar.

The air so alive with cold
Strangling,
Suffocating,
All I could know

I drank the wine and listened.

You are too young to know but listen
Listen to each word. Then
Come away. Leave the door ajar
Learn to find the secret jolt.

Swimming across frozen water, chunks
Catching in my hair, my feet whales
Stuck again and again, my arms logs
Weighted by soot, dark and swirling
In the whirlpool my body was creating
Strangling
Suffocating

Like powder
The smell of a rich woman ready
For her lover
The chamomile woke me
My limbs were stiff with dawn

I had barely began to walk the soreness out
When I found him.

–Shaun Perkins

Events, Musings

I Have a Scary Story-Poem for You!

June 7, 2013June 7, 2013 ROMPoetry

Howl of coyote, whimper of mouse,
Rustle in the grass near the poison oak.
Do you hear what she hears when you go out?
What’s in the silence between each frog’s croak?

Down by the pond where the creatures come
Ghosts in the air and the water shine.
The moon is new in the summer night
And black like the waters of a witch’s wine.

These are some sample lines from the story-poem I will be telling tonight during Ghost Tales at the Territory Tellers annual storytelling event! The Spirit of Oklahoma Storytelling Festival is in its 7^th year at Seminole State College in Seminole. The festival starts this afternoon, June 7, and continues on Saturday, June 8 with a full day of stories and events, such as a silent auction, story swaps, and more. Continue reading “I Have a Scary Story-Poem for You!” →

Poems

The Necessary

May 14, 2013May 14, 2013 ROMPoetry

When I was a little girl,
We had houses of shade
Spaced along the road
Where the sycamores
And elms waved to us,
Their branches longer
Than time, leaves wider
Than space, our hearts
Scary with sunshine
Too explosive to contain. Continue reading “The Necessary” →

Poems

Listen to May

April 29, 2013April 29, 2013 ROMPoetry

The cruelty of April which lingers
In a late deadening frost, in the fragile
Breaking of stem, the flood that uproots,
Is finally no match for that herald
Of warm wildflower season—May.

May says to you, Wind this bright ribbon
Around the pole, hang this flower basket
From your neighbor’s doorknob, toast
Your mother’s life and remember the dead,
Celebrate cinco-style all birth and burial. Continue reading “Listen to May” →

Poems

After the Storm

April 22, 2013April 22, 2013 ROMPoetry

Crooked driftwood in the skinny tree,
Debris like veils shrouding broken branches,
Small ground gourds from the previous summer
Tumbling to artful rest on piles of small trees,
Spring Creek after the seasonal storm. Continue reading “After the Storm” →

Events, Musings

I Share Cookies With You

April 19, 2013 ROMPoetry

Cookies! I have cookies. I will share. I will not eat them all. Come see me and I will give you one. Or two. Or three. Cookies! Here is my poem about cookies:

Me want cookie.
You want cookie?
I got cookie.
You want cookie?
We got poems.
You want poem?
Cookie or poem.
We got both.
You eat one.
You eat both.

Come to the Cruelest Month Celebration. Cookies. Lemonade. Treasure Hunt. Poems. Nature. Good people. Good weather. Need more info.? Call or email: 918-864-9152 or rompoetry@gmail.com.

Saturday, April 20, 2013
2-6 p.m.
Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry
Locust Grove OK