I am the blackjack oak
protecting herself
with a 2nd set of leaves.
If I’m shorn of one
by chance or natural
means
I will produce the other. Continue reading “Stubborn”
Tag: poems
The First Exhibit
I have completed my first exhibit in the museum. It is called Marginalia—and it was inspired by Billy Collins’ poem of the same name and made possible by a 1928 textbook called Selections from English Literature. This textbook, which I bought in a Salvation Army in Bartlesville, around 1998, is littered with marginalia written by its owner, one Irene Chaffee. Continue reading “The First Exhibit”
Oklahoma’s True Poet Laureate: Woody Guthrie
My students have been studying the life and work of Woody Guthrie. It’s his centennial, and good old Oklahoma is finally coming around to see what an important man this guy from Okemah really was. My fellow Okies tend to hold a grudge for way too long, and in this case it was never warranted—to think someone was a communist (which he wasn’t) and a socialist (which he was, though didn’t care for the tag) is not a decent reason to deny his value. Continue reading “Oklahoma’s True Poet Laureate: Woody Guthrie”
Morgana’s Instructions
You don’t need to love the old man.
Just move his boots out of the way
so neither of you trip over them.
Ask the cook to send the boy out
to find the leeks he likes the best.
Move the curtain on the bed a few
inches to one side, clip it there.
Turn away when he coughs
and the sputum slips out his mouth. Continue reading “Morgana’s Instructions”
Craig’s List Poetry: Ejecutive
Ejecutive
One minute I was attempting
To figure out email
And the next I was flying
Through the sky,
My bald head ringed
With acoustic ceiling tile, Continue reading “Craig’s List Poetry: Ejecutive”
Dad’s First Poem
Once upon a time, without poetry, people were unable “to sow wheat or barley, go out to sea in a ship, make their gods hear them, get well if they were sick, or fight their enemies.” (The Winged Horse). Whatever we used to do of importance would begin or end with poetry. Poetry was originally the work of the people, of all people of any color, rank, position, religion, tribe, or education. Continue reading “Dad’s First Poem”
Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry 