Tag: National Poetry Month

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

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 #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

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

8 – Wit’s End

The path
to Wit’s End
starts wide
and unexpected,
beckons you
with promises of
Hope Ahead >>

There are steep hills
built high on
Anticipation
followed by
dark valleys of
Disappointment
that eventually lead to
a narrow rocky path
marked
Just Keep Going >>

eerily dark
day or night,
its brambles making
forward movement
near impossible
its Switchbacks
and Turn-Arounds
keeping you
sufficiently
dizzy enough
not to notice
you’ve arrived

Wit’s End

breathless
heart pounding
Fight or Flight
muscles
glistening

wondering do you
follow
This Way >>
one more time
or jump?

Poem ©2024, Jen Payne. Photo by kublizz. 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

7 – Kismet

She is a peculiar cat
full of spice
with an innate
determination
and
confidence
Said “I am here”
the first day
without qualm
and has been
persistent since

I wonder sometimes
how she came to me
what wheel was spun
in the great
Cat Distribution System
that put two and two
together to make
she and me here
at this particular
moment in time
that demands
my own resolve
and fortitude
asks me to lean in hard
like she does, often,
insisting
I belong here too.

Poem ©2024, Jen Payne. Photo: Molly helping me write this poem. 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, cat poems, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

6 – String Theory

I am most envious
of the cat
sleeping
who knows not
the
long lists
or burdens
besides
the
particular
angle
of the stranded
string
its shadow
enough to
contemplate
for this day.

Poem ©2024, Jen Payne. Image: Woman, Cat and String, Will Barnet. 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, cat poems, Connecticut Poet, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

5 – If someone walked into your heart what would they see?

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date April 5, 2024
No Comments on 5 – If someone walked into your heart what would they see?

Or: When a Writing Prompt Takes You to a Battleground

The poet’s
skin soft from age
(perfumed in
Calvados perhaps)
knows the pulse
of waves
beneath her
feels how they
beat within, too
remembers well
the stories
and great heroics
of trust
and love
walks now
a gravely path
to an expanse
of cratered lawn
where ghosts
commune
in whispers
and tears are
only memory
reflected in
the morning rain
where sharp wires
— a final kindness —
keep her safe
from another fall.

Poem ©2024, Jen Payne, recollecting a trip to Pointe du Hoc. Photo: Pointe du Hoc, courtesy of the World War II Foundation. 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, Haiku, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, nature poems, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

4 – Witching Hour

Folklore says
the witching hour
arrives between
midnight and four,
but I beg to differ

I will tell you
with no uncertainty
that the devil appears
sometime between
7 and 9
as regular as the sun
in a wild cacophony
of sounds and alerts

hoof beats and
tire beats
engines roaring
bass thumping

Pavlovian dings
for here! no there!
over there!
and here!

Cursed notifications
and incoming calls
and speech bubbles
that

pop! pop! pop!
bang! bang! bang!

Headlines
and Bylines
and Subject Lines

It’s mischief
and madness
and mechanisms
seeping through
the heavens of morning
that only
the most wicked
could fashion

Poem ©2024, Jen Payne. IMAGE: Wikicommons. 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, Haiku, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, nature poems, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

3 – Rain: A Haiku

some will say the rain

come again some other day —

not spring buds (or me)

Poem ©2024, Jen Payne. IMAGE: 1933, Kawarazaki Kodo, woodcut tulips. 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, Haiku, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, National Poetry Writing Month, nature poems, Poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

2 – To Be or Not to Be a Poet

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date April 3, 2024
No Comments on 2 – To Be or Not to Be a Poet

He uses a word
I should know
should be able to define

provide example,
one of my own even

(poet, my ass)

To be, or not to be

like the woman next to him —
roll up a sleeve
to show my favorite lines
inked in perpetuity

So I make a note
That is the question

But shouldn’t I come equipped
with the tools of my trade?

The rhyme. The reason. The rhythm.

Emily etched on a forearm
I’m nobody.

But am I a poet?
Really?

And what am I making
of this wild and precious life?

Two roads diverged
and I found myself lost

wandered lonely as a cloud
until the word pulled me back

said LOOK ME UP!
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow

Until you find your way back
full of sound and fury

Poem and photo ©2024, Jen Payne. With thanks to William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Mary Oliver, Robert Frost, and William Wordsworth. IMAGE: Still life with skull, candle and book, Paul Cezanne. 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

1 – April arrives in flames

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date April 1, 2024
No Comments on 1 – April arrives in flames

April arrives in flames

bright plumes on the horizon

and it

without the benefit of sirens

instead inspires birdsong

and the slow rumble roar

of the long

awakening

so I drop and roll

in the field

press my ear against the ground

to hear the millions yield

their sound

the bulb and bird and beetle

how we go

too

from smoke to red hot fire

the days from start to end

burning holes

through quiet

Poem and photo ©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, nature poetry, Poetry, spring poetry

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

26 – When Will They Ever Learn

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date April 26, 2023
No Comments on 26 – When Will They Ever Learn

There’s an archnemesis on the playground
and devils at the pulpit,
people are afraid of words words!
ideas, thoughts, stories

the holy rage through traffic to get to their entertainment complex

pass by the street beggar praying he’s not gay or trans or black or blue or whatever their god teaches them to hate this week, this century

and history repeats

I had an archnemesis once
she threw rocks at my face
and called me a whore
but names will never hurt me

it’s the rage I worry about
the everything-that’s-old-is-new-again-rage
fueled by the mouths of demons
and poor pages of books
tossed in the street,
there next to the beggar who picks one up and reads

“He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.”

Poem ©2023, Jen Payne. #NaPoWriMo, National Poetry Month. 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 gif

Tags #NaPoWriMo, catpoems, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

25 – I Live in a House of Cats

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date April 25, 2023
No Comments on 25 – I Live in a House of Cats

I live in a house of cats:

three before that were

one – Emily
after the poet
loved blue jays
a thing with feathers

and two – CJ
namesake Joy but
arrived with grief
that lifted with love

then 3 – Crystal
so full of life and love
she sparkled!

[ There were two drifters

Moose, who lived next door but preferred to garden here

and Little Black Kitty who learned to trust slowly but enough ]

Of course Lola,
Zen master
lost then found
found me

Now: Molly
Good Golly,
is Whippersnapper
a name for a cat?

Woman with Cat by Pablo Picasso. Poem ©2023, Jen Payne. #NaPoWriMo, National Poetry Month. 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 gif

Tags #NaPoWriMo, catpoems, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, poems about cats

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

24 – Incognito

In my next life,
I want to live here
in this crazy loud city
where everything feels iconic
and ordinary all at once,
where pavement
steps aside for flowers and
small spots of cool grass,
and trees carry the sound
of musicians and pigeons,
where the ordinary
walk side-by-side
with the out-of-this-world
and I, anonymous,
don’t care about reflections
in buildings made of glass,
where everyone
arrives at the park by noon
and it doesn’t matter
who or what you are,
because you leave soon,
for a few bucks
careen through the underworld,
arrive somewhere else
entirely, like magic,
knowing where you were,
and every place else,
goes on without you.

Photo & Poem ©2023, Jen Payne. #NaPoWriMo, National Poetry Month. 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, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, New York City, poems about nyc

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

23 – The Fine Print: A Dream

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date April 24, 2023
No Comments on 23 – The Fine Print: A Dream

I promised you a diamond
he says of our courtship,
but never a ring —
and he laughs with that smile,
like I’m in on the joke.
We make a contract —
verbal, never signed,
then I invite them in
and tell them my stories.

I’m charming and kind,
in just the right ways,
endearing and fun
everything they want,
until it’s time for me to leave.
That’s the hardest part,
as they forget the agreement,
so I do it slow to start.

I pack up my interesting bits,
then take back my affection,
I pull at the threads of what’s left
until there’s nothing to hold onto.
That’s when they leave — THEY end it
and the contracts breaks by default.

He sees me crying then and
shapeshifts to the one I remember,
pulls me to his chest and holds on
as tight as that first embrace years ago,
the perfect fit, the smell of old books and cedar,
then a devilish laugh and I wake
to the sound of tears pouring down,
midnight thunder and wicked, wicked lightning.

Image by Jason Holley. Poem ©2023, Jen Payne. #NaPoWriMo, National Poetry Month. 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, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month, poetry about dreams

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

22 – Rebuttal

This is to be expected.
I don’t come
with a pedigree
or a PH.D.
I don’t wear laurels
or titles well
I haven’t kissed ass
(or any of you),
and I know, I know
I should have bowed
low and deep
before the queen
but I’ve never been one
to follow the rules
or jump through hoops
of anyone’s making
but my own.

Alice illustration by John Tenniel. Poem ©2023, Jen Payne. #NaPoWriMo, National Poetry Month. 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, Jen Payne, National Poetry Month

Memoir National Poetry Month Nature Poetry Writing

21 – The things I didn’t say…

Post author By Jen Payne
Post date April 22, 2023
2 Comments on 21 – The things I didn’t say…

You’ve got a bit of hate there
stuck between your teeth

cover up that
weak mind,
it’s embarrassing

not cool dude
more wrong side of history
than team spirit or
patriotism, even

maybe patriarchy

kinda red car
nuclear missile
escalation
compensation

if you ask me

which you didn’t

and wouldn’t

because you know
already
everything I didn’t say

and you’re gonna
wear it like a badge of honor
proud and defiant
full of fear and lockstep
down a path
towards an epitaph
that dogma won’t ever resolve

Poem ©2023, Jen Payne, written in response to an NRA backpack. #NaPoWriMo, National Poetry Month. 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, Jen Payne, makelovenotwar, National Poetry Month