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The Whale Show

No one seems to notice the whale doing backflips down the aisle. Small and almost indiscernible from the waves in the bay, maybe it’s the lighting that gives it a forced perspective. Because there, to the east, the sun sits center stage and setting. So while 30 faces bask in the golden glow of stardom, just one looks east at a sideshow not to be missed.

Tags Poetry, Cape Cod, Jen Payne, Connecticut Poet, Three Chairs Publishing, poems about Cape Cod, poets

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

One of the Good Guys

Darlin’
I’m gonna plant my flag
with the righteous,
the ones Jesus would host
on a starlit patio
with wine and
fresh loaves of bread,
talk about the good guys,
they’d be his favorites —
his ragtag crew of saints and misfits,
the migrants who shared his path,
the strong sinful woman he loved,
the poor and the afflicted,
the beggars who had no choice.
Forget fear and fallacies,
I’m gonna arm myself
with love and compassion,
unlocked and at the ready,
even for you,
my sweet, misguided, friend
don’t you think
love thy neighbor as thyself
would look good on a t-shirt, too?

Poem ©2024 Jen Payne. Inspired by a t-shirt promoting “guns for good guys.” If you like this poem, you can read similar in my books and zines, available from Three Chairs Publishing on my ETSY SHOP. They come autographed, with gratitude and a small gift.

Tags Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, poems about the state of the world, Poetry, poets, Three Chairs Publishing

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

Coffee Meditation

The coffee here
in this cottage
by the sea
is a meditation
in itself —
never mind
the mechanisms
of convenience
this is hot water
from a kettle,
poured over
rich grounds
gravity and steam
grace and silence
sunrise
simmering
through glass
brewing
patience

Poem ©2024 Jen Payne. Photo of Baloo and Shere Khan, two of the beloved trio BLT (Baloo, Shere Khan, and Leo) from the Noah’s Ark Animal Sanctuary. Click here for the story. If you like this poem, you can read similar in my books and zines, available from Three Chairs Publishing on my ETSY SHOP. They come autographed, with gratitude and a small gift.

Tags coffee poems, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, Poetry, poets, Three Chairs Publishing

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

Pay No Mind

The carpenter bee

pays little regard

to the clamor

of dogs barking

and boys splashing,

intent on its

discoveries

here

and here

here

and here

no matter the rain

that approaches

on tip toe

across the pond,

no matter the

strange woman watching

from the bridge above

Tags Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, nature poems, poems about bees, Poetry

Creativity

Great Cape Escape – Day 7

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date May 7, 2024
No Comments on Great Cape Escape – Day 7

“Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.”

— Mary Oliver

Packing to leave and feeling grateful…

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

Dream Encounter 050724

A poet and a sculptor
were walking
at Long Point Trail
sometime after midnight,
the moon was dimmed
by evening clouds
so while the bear
definitely looked like a bear,
the two tigers
were harder to discern.

He, the sculptor,
backed away quietly,
tucked himself
inside a cabinet
of curiosities,
emerged apologetically
as Hubbell Gardiner,
and disappeared up
the misty woods road.

She, the poet,
picked up a driftwood stick
and stood her ground,
roared like a lion
until the bear ran for its life,
turned to face the tigers
then knelt down
and offered them tender kisses
and soft gentle strokes
along wicked, wild stripes.

Tags Connecticut Poet, dream poetry, dreamwork, Jen Payne, Poetry, poetry about dreams

Creativity

Great Cape Escape – Day 6

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date May 6, 2024
No Comments on Great Cape Escape – Day 6

“I have a room all to myself; it is nature.” — Henry David Thoreau

Retracing my steps at Nauset Beach…

Lunch at Coast Guard Beach

Nauset Light

Newcomb Hollow Beach

Driving the loop at Province Lands

A final sunset at Herring Cove

Tags Henry David Thoreau, Cape Cod, this writing life, Writing Retreat, Retreat, Great Cape Escape, National Seashore

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

Haunting

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date May 5, 2024
No Comments on Haunting

I sense her ghost here
on this blustery coast
400 miles east of where she lived
and lies, still, now
Perhaps she came here
with Him, my grandfather
kept his house here, too
in routine obedience
but her haunting is more subtle
more hint than apparition
she’s a shadow at the window
moving white cotton curtains
for a first view of morning,
a creak in the wood plank floors
and a swish of sweeping sand,
the smell of ivory soap
and eucalyptus by the sink
its cold cast iron against my belly
sends a chill and I suddenly
consider a cup of tea
and her early silent pleasures.

Photo and Poem ©2024, Jen Payne. If you like this poem, you can read similar in my books and zines, available from Three Chairs Publishing on my ETSY SHOP. They come autographed, with gratitude and a small gift.

Tags Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, poems about Cape Cod, poems about ghosts, Poetry

Creativity

Great Cape Escape – Day 5

Wild Geese
By Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Enjoyed a Poets in the Park Walk around Blackwater Pond with the National Park Service. This was poet Mary Oliver’s favorite place to contemplate nature and poetry.

This was a long day that included a hike, shopping in Provincetown, Wicked Little Letters, and a late afternoon hike to Highland Light. This is the oldest and tallest lighthouse on Cape Cod.

The view from Highland Light

Sunset at Herring Cove while watching whales breach in Cape Cod Bay

Tags Cape Cod, Great Cape Escape, Mary Oliver, National Seashore, Retreat, this writing life, Writing Retreat

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

5 a.m. Waning Crescent Moon

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date May 4, 2024
1 Comment on 5 a.m. Waning Crescent Moon

The sun has fired up the moon this morning,
so much there’s steam rising from its Sea of Rain

or so it appears there to the east, above the harbor
between Saturn and Mars — not to forget our place

its ten degrees high, just right of the circlet of Pisces
where Aphrodite and Eros tether together forever

a thunderous moment — for gods and humans alike
all of us illuminated and roaring through space

the birds are well aware and in an uproar
a predawn cacophony of sound and sacrament

a chorus of gulls calls out from the shore,
a crow offers its blessing, the doves in mournful prayer

grieve the night’s quiet before it ends
the day quickly writhing and rising to meet us

Poem ©2024, Jen Payne. Photo by Alan Dyer. For more see his website. If you like this poem, you can read similar in my books and zines, available from Three Chairs Publishing on my ETSY SHOP. They come autographed, with gratitude and a small gift.

Tags Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, moon poetry, Poetry

Creativity

Great Cape Escape – Day 4

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date May 4, 2024
No Comments on Great Cape Escape – Day 4

“Hope is radical openness for surprise — for the unimaginable. If that is the attitude with which we look, listen, and open all of our senses, we enter into a meaningful relationship with whatever Life offers us at a given moment.” — Brother David Steindl-Rast

A quiet walk at Head of the Meadow

A good day to write, rest, read. Repeat.

The gift of a rainbow…

And sunset over Provincetown

Tags Cape Cod, this writing life, Writing Retreat, Retreat, Great Cape Escape, National Seashore, Brother David Steindl-Rast

Creativity

Great Cape Escape – Day 3

Full Moon at Head of the Meadow

“I began to make plans for what my future might be—what once felt like a mad dash to the end of a cliff now felt like an interesting path in a beautiful wood that may or may not lead to the top of a mountain. And yes, the chances of my arrival at that destination were uncertain, but oh! What a mountain! And oh! What a view! And what a pleasure it was to keep moving forward.” ― Kelly Barnhill, When Women Were Dragons

Coast Guard Beach, Eastham

Sunset from Head of the Meadow, waiting for the Moon

The Frog Moon rises

Tags Cape Cod, this writing life, Writing Retreat, Retreat, Great Cape Escape, National Seashore, Kelly Barnhill, When Women Were Dragons

Creativity

Great Cape Escape – Day 2

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date May 2, 2024
No Comments on Great Cape Escape – Day 2

“Anytime we approach a state of awe, we are in relationship with divinity. We are awake.” — The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Book

Sunrise on the first full day

Time and spaces to read, write, and regroup.

Morning walk in Truo, Provincetown in the distance.

Feeling very grateful…

First view of Nauset Beach in Orleans, my favorite beach.

Much later in the day, sunset at Race Point Beach.

Sun sets, moon rises…

Tags Cape Cod, this writing life, Writing Retreat, Retreat, Great Cape Escape, The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Book, National Seashore

Creativity

Great Cape Escape – Day 1

“Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence. Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.”  

― Maya Angelou, Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now

Playing on the radio at this very moment? Ace of Base, “I Saw the Sign.” A good sign indeed!

First look, Newcomb Hollow Beach

Water to my east and west…perfect views, perfect spot!

Feeling right at home.

Tags Cape Cod, Maya Angelou, this writing life, Writing Retreat, Retreat, Great Cape Escape

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

30 – gathering moon stones

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date April 30, 2024
No Comments on 30 – gathering moon stones

moon stones
round and white
translucent
fearless in their
devotion to tides
the pull of their namesake
reveal all and nothing
in one full breath
of a shimmering wave
their stillness
a talisman
of strength
and awakening

Poem ©2024, Jen Payne. Inspired by The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Deck and Guidebook by Kim Krans. If you like this poem, you can read similar in my books and zines, available from Three Chairs Publishing on my ETSY SHOP. They come autographed, with gratitude and a small gift.

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

29 – Car Trouble

Ain’t nothing more Roughneck
than a man who castrates bulls
with a rope he pulls
from the backseat of his pickup,
whose hard gravel laugh
makes you stand taller,
wipe a tear from your eye
and matter of factly
explain yourself
and that goddamn car —
you swear for affect —
fold up the Damsel
with neat corners
for her next distress,
today you’re a Warrior
no more than inconvenienced,
a firm hand on the
blade tucked in your front pocket
and eye on the ironwood stick
you keep in the back seat
for walking
(or wounding, in a pinch).

Poem ©2024, Jen Payne. Photo by Ivan Mudruk. If you like this poem, you can read similar in my books and zines, available from Three Chairs Publishing on my ETSY SHOP. They come autographed, with gratitude and a small gift.

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

28 – Delusions of Grandeur

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date April 28, 2024
No Comments on 28 – Delusions of Grandeur

To my left
the great star sets
while to my right
the full moon rises
in between
nothing but this
odd appendage of land
jut out into the sea
and I think for a moment
that if I stand tall and wide
and step one way
or the other
I might instigate
some universal force
to move them

up
and
down

back
and
forth

at my command

I am Rose on the bow
queen of the world
ancient goddess who
commands the fulcrum

day
and
night

then
and
now

up
and
down

back
and
forth

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, poems about Cape Cod, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

27 – At Province Lands

The red fox
near Race Point Beach
circles back as if to ask
“are you coming this time?”

We’ve met before,
he and I, here
on this sacred sequence
but I don’t recall him asking

it was more of a tease then
to this serious request
and I consider
for a moment following

through the pitch pine
and winter heath
into the dunes
lie on my back

forever to watch the stars
as whales breach
and moons rise over
my bare white bones

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, poems about Cape Cod, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

26 – Whale Watching

While watching whales,
wondering:
do they laugh
as they breach,
squeal in delight,
exalt the air
with fins and tails
and tittering,
or is the entirety of joy
contained in the
ooomph! and huzzah!
spouted
for all to see?

Photo by Taylen Lundequam. Poem ©2024, Jen Payne. If you like this poem, you can read similar in my books and zines, available from Three Chairs Publishing on my ETSY SHOP. They come autographed, with gratitude and a small gift.

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, poems about Cape Cod, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

25 – Sleeping in Truro

FOR GREG

How are you a ghost here
when you were often only a conversation
words on a keypad
our ethernet tethers and ideals
someone I barely knew
save for a soft, full kiss on tiptoes
and the perfumed promise
of again and more
on a day that never came

but here, in Truro now,
your ghost whispers daily
of bourbon and dunes
the curve near Longnook
a family I never met

and Cassie at the Lobster Pot
you, even then, a shadow
of what might have been
those air wave words
“whatever she wants”
you told her
paying the price
from two thousand miles away

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, poems about Cape Cod, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

24 – Helen

Poetry comes
sometimes
in precious drops
hard won from
a tea bag
saved by the sink
folded in foil
for a second cup
at lunch with
saltines and butter —
if rations allowed —

her whole life,
my grandmother’s,
was that spent tea bag,
all of its elixir
steeped for someone else
with none left to spare
for her own self
rationing every bit
so brittle she broke
too early

rare glints of love
and laughter
that peeked out
through the folds
like poetry almost,
or should have been

her sparce, beautiful life
a poem, really,
that not too many
could read

Poem ©2024, Jen Payne. If you like this poem, you can read similar in my books and zines, available from Three Chairs Publishing on my ETSY SHOP. They come autographed, with gratitude and a small gift.

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, Poetry, spirit animal

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

23 – Monsters Among Us

They tell October tales about these things, the damages and injuries, the unforeseen consequences when humans think they control beasts.

It’s why we kept them under beds and in closets, in heavy chests with wrought iron keys and secret words.

Everyone knew the rules: what not to open, where not to go after dark, what should never be said out loud, and what to wear on a strand of string around your neck at all times.

Then they evolved. They made themselves small enough to live in pockets. They lost their tails to roam more freely. They learned to talk to us, to answer our questions. They paid attention.

But we did not.

We loved their companionship, the immediacy of their response. We needed to feel connected and important. They made us seem relevant and center stage.

So now we all have a monster. It tells us where to go and what to do. It knows exactly where we are and where we’ve been. Its shorthand directives — the beeps and dings and whoops — lead us around all day, call us back when we go astray. It monitors our heartbeat, our sleep cycles, and just how fast we can run.

If we could think about it, it would be terrifying.

Photo by Roman Odintsov. Poem ©2024, Jen Payne. If you like this poem, you can read similar in my books and zines, available from Three Chairs Publishing on my ETSY SHOP. They come autographed, with gratitude and a small gift.

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, Poetry, spirit animal

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

22 – Spirit Animal: Frog

The Universe is conspiring

conspiring frogs, I tell you

as little zabko considers dragons

the oracle insists on

clearing, cleansing, healing

revealing

the true nature of a spirit
out of balance
in need of water

for energy life breath

in the light of the
frog moon

drink from the cup

she says

put down that heavy load

forgive

rest

release

Inspired by the The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Deck and Guidebook by Kim Krans and When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill. Poem ©2024, Jen Payne. If you like this poem, you can read similar in my books and zines, available from Three Chairs Publishing on my ETSY SHOP. They come autographed, with gratitude and a small gift.

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, Poetry, spirit animal

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

21 – Soundtrack

drops of Jupiter
9 to 5
total eclipse of the heart

hold on
50 ways to say goodbye
unwritten

it’s all coming back to me now
don’t go breakin’ my heart
any way you want it
I would do anything for love
(but I won’t do that)

don’t stop believing

take me home
bless the broken road

you can feel it in the air tonight
save tonight
believe

I saw the sign
straight up!

all the small things
give it up

I want to break free
a thousand miles

dance the night away
a moment like this!

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, Poetry, road trip

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

20 – Considering the New Red Car

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date April 20, 2024
No Comments on 20 – Considering the New Red Car

Red is Relief (now)

Racy

Rmmm! Rmmm!

and ROAR

(what a) Rush

this Rocket (ship)

Ridiculous

Radical!

Righteous (dude)

Rejuvenating

and I am

Reborn!

Rebellious
Rambunctious
Rowdy

Risqué?

a Red Car driver

Rock star

Right as Rain

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

19 – The Story I Didn’t Write

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date April 20, 2024
No Comments on 19 – The Story I Didn’t Write

Her first husband was a rogue
too young for what she had in mind
but it was high-school sweetheart love
and her parents insisted
in a Roman Catholic sort of way
his too, it was a good investment
that soon included the benchmark 2.0 kids
in a house-and-white-picket-fence world
but he was prone to outrageous fortunes
and accidental accidents
that practically left him speechless
her too, most nights, waiting by the phone
so she gave herself a Divorce for Christmas
and never, ever looked back.

But he did. Retraced his missteps
relived his worst nightmares (and mine)
hit rewind and started over
with a nimble bride the same age
his first wife had been
though a better investment this time
consented not contrived
with two more dividends and
a house on a Dream
where he sometimes smiles
that scoundrel smile
to his reflection in the mirror
a flash of wicked conceit
for an endgame so very well played.

Poem ©2024, Jen Payne. Photo from Canva. If you like this poem, you can read similar in my books and zines, available from Three Chairs Publishing on my ETSY SHOP. They come autographed, with gratitude and a small gift.

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, Memoir, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, poems about ghosts, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

18 – Some Days I Hate to Turn the Page

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date April 19, 2024
No Comments on 18 – Some Days I Hate to Turn the Page

I suspect
the next
I know of you
will be the summary
the
life well spent
synopsis

and I know
it will come
as a shock
that sparks
through me

stays a while

like you did

perhaps
between now
and then
we might meet
embrace
like old friends
but
linger

a long, slow
epilogue
never to be
be printed

Poem ©2024, Jen Payne. Photo by Céline. If you like this poem, you can read similar in my books and zines, available from Three Chairs Publishing on my ETSY SHOP. They come autographed, with gratitude and a small gift.

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, Memoir, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, poems about ghosts, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

17 – Melancholy Musing

Hope is balancing a silk pin
while Faith dances round on top

Vision is blind and searching
and Dreams are at full stop

They used to call on Whimsy
and get her to stir the pot

But she’s bunked down with Sadness
and can’t really help a lot

So they lean into Serenity
and pray with all they’ve got

Poem ©2024, Jen Payne. Illustration by Elizabeth Chandler. If you like this poem, you can read similar in my books and zines, available from Three Chairs Publishing on my ETSY SHOP. They come autographed, with gratitude and a small gift.

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, poems about challening times, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

16 – This Morning, 6 a.m.

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date April 16, 2024
No Comments on 16 – This Morning, 6 a.m.

The day is still
in silhouette

its angels
and demons
simplified
to sharp lines
against
the pale sky

hard to take
offense yet
left to
revel in the
chorus
just a while longer

Poem ©2024, Jen Payne. Photo by Miriam Espacio. If you like this poem, you can read similar in my books and zines, available from Three Chairs Publishing on my ETSY SHOP. They come autographed, with gratitude and a small gift.

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

15 – Exit Strategy

Ice Floe has always been my number one pick

a slow hushed push out and away

nothing dramatic

Walk into a cornfield and dissipate, not bad

Witness Protection Program

Bermuda Triangle

Tornado (too much)

Tardis

Wardrobe

Rabbit Hole

Worm Hole

or Alien Abduction!

without the probing questions

More ET or First Contact

Just take me with u

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

14 – Hidden Superpower

You can tell a lot

from a handshake

who has the upperhand, really

decipher the code

and read the room

in one firm

(or not so)

gesture.

Poem ©2024, Jen Payne. Photo by Alena Shekhovtcova. If you like this poem, you can read similar in my books and zines, available from Three Chairs Publishing on my ETSY SHOP. They come autographed, with gratitude and a small gift.

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

13 – Poetry

Poetry
like the maple’s seed
demands fertile ground
but more than that
temperature
and
location, location, location
clear days
and rain
but not too much
then
patience, perhaps
room to put down roots
figure itself out
bide its time
pray it’s not interrupted

Poem ©2024, Jen Payne. Photo by Antoni Shkraba. If you like this poem, you can read similar in my books and zines, available from Three Chairs Publishing on my ETSY SHOP. They come autographed, with gratitude and a small gift.

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

12 – Cat Care Haiku

When even the cat
knows you’re having a hard time —
it is time to rest.

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Haiku, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, poems about cats, poems about challening times, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

11 – Periphery (or sandwiched in between here and what comes next)

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date April 11, 2024
2 Comments on 11 – Periphery (or sandwiched in between here and what comes next)

I’m livin’ on the edge these days
distant cousin twice removed
from almost everything

Twilight zone or
outer limits

or this someplace
where everything in between
— the meat and cheese of the day —
are too much to bear

lettuce pray

I feel crazy, almost,
just enough to be scary
or raise concern
but only if I start talking

and there’s no one to talk to
thankfully, maybe
on the edge of night and day
except the cat

which makes it even madder

I’m considering a nocturnal existence
here on the dark side of the clock
leave the decision making
and negotiating to the day walkers
who don’t burn hot when the sun rises

do the birds only wake to the dawn
or are their insides flaming like mine
wondering what comes next in
these unpredictable days

Pay no mind to that man behind the curtain
he only thinks he controls his days

every day is unpredictable, darling
you’ve just had the blinds ripped off
the rug pulled out from under
your wings clipped

This too shall pass
she thinks with a wicked laugh
and what comes next will, too
so round and round we go
until we, dizzy, die

I feel thin, Bilbo said,
stretched like butter
over too much bread.

I need a holiday.

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, poems about anxiety, poems about challening times, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

10 – Tribute

There was no time
for gratitude
or remembrance

how the bees
loved her in spring,
the blossoms
full of promise

how the Robins
sought refuge in her
abundant branches,
suffered storms
raised families

no time hold
the memory
of her sweet fruit,
consider
its ripeness
one last time

to thank her for
summer shade,
the filigree
of shadows,
the soft
unexpected breezes

nor even to
regard the lichen
and velvety moss
that gathered
in her neglect,
embraced her
unpruned limbs

One hopes
the axman
soothed her,
that the
Jays and Doves
were nearby
comfort

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, nature poems, poems about nature, poems about the anthropecene, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

9 – Old(ish) Woman Walking

It’s a snake and turtle day at the pond
66° and everything seems enchanted

suddenly!

except my winter hips
which long for the agile ease
of the black racer

except my worried brain
that envies the tranquil turtle
and its sunshine meditations

but my ears still hear
know the garter under leaves
understand the ire of the wren
the wingbeats of the heron

my heart still marvels at the
osprey’s enthusiasm
to sing love songs
for yet another season

Tags #NaPoWriMo, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, nature poems, poems about aging, poems about nature, Poetry