Definition #83 Quenby

Quenby 1975

Poem for Quenby
New Years Eve 2014

Big girl panties
Carry you to greatness:
The family sees
its independent woman
and wants to be just like you when  they grow up.

Big girl capes
Carry you farther than all the ancestors-
Even to the shores of Iceland!
it’s volcanos, starkness, and wool dainties

Big girl feet
Step in places ne’er discovered,
Leave illuminated prints
For cats to follow
For wild fairies to adorn
With moss and loam and musk.

Mom

“You Smell Bad”

You Smell Bad

This is a PDF about a thunderstorm
2 children who try to help a frightened dog
and their Nana and Don.

TELLING TIME

tick-tock click clock

Introduced the “clock-man” to my 4 year old:
Little hand, big hand, forward move: one, two, three.
Time passes on the clock, on the calendar too
But touchstones stay the same for you and me.

Little hand, big hand, forward move: one, two, three.
Tick-tock, click-clock arrows speed to lead
Us to the dreams we paint: the hopes, the deeds.

Time passes on the clock; on the calendar too
Weeks, to months, to years, to lives…
Then on to memories worn on our hides, insides, tribes.

But touchstones stay the same for you and me.
The elders molt to spirits; the new reach for our care
Our nostrils scent the musk of need and nurture everywhere.

Musk

Musk

Musk must rise from my throat
To signal to my infant Grandson:
Grandma’s arms: your cradle.

Musk must sing-waft
Through the rink:
Swirling with my roller dance.

Musk must warm
The candle flame
That lights your skin aglow.
Chiaroscuro!

Jeanne Poland