by Laura Parker Roerden 1. I woke up this morning with the phrase, “something uplifting” in my mind, then saw that among the snowfall out my window many snowflakes were rising up on unseen currents. 2. I’m sure a mathematician could help us understand the exact preponderance that falls at a predictable speed to theirContinue reading “An Un-Poem About the Falling Snow”
Category Archives: Poetry
Carrying the Moon
by Laura Parker Roerden Seven bluebirds live on the edge of our hayfield. Their flight has helped me understand the loss of my father and brother, two generations of farmers who died as dominoes go down; one right after the other. On the end of the field, where a barren lawn meets boughs of wildContinue reading “Carrying the Moon”
The Leatherback Turtle
by Laura Parker Roerden She asked not why leaving the water should call her, even as she dragged herself onto the beach, a soldier, crawling as her body thickened, while she sunk more deeply into the sand than peace, softness rising to accommodate. A sigh above her carried a mist along the beach, asContinue reading “The Leatherback Turtle”
Humpbacks Feeding
by Laura Parker Roerden We first see the humpbacks at the surface, their mouths ballooning open, unfolding in pleats like a girl’s skirt caught in the wind. Seawater and herring is caught now as soup meeting hunger. There are nine whales, I’m told. Their mouths seem to open up as if the hinge that holdsContinue reading “Humpbacks Feeding”
The Bobcat
by Laura Parker Roerden I awoke to a moonlit hayfield, as if entering a dream. A bobcat, crouched in dried grass, was staring at me. I watched back, his frighteningly large outline a shadow, his two eyes outstretched as if handing me something. He lifted the full moon from the edge of the now darkContinue reading “The Bobcat”
A Baracuda and Boa
by Laura Parker Roerden I once saw a torpedo of a barracuda rake through a school of fairy basslets, gorging on the smaller fish as if they were kernels of popcorn at a movie. The barracuda was all torque and fang; the fairy basslets a delicate purple and orange, like a fragile glass vase createdContinue reading “A Baracuda and Boa”
The Water Awaits
by Laura Parker Roerden A river of loss can still bring one home to an ocean, where brine buoys and anchors us, as if connected to a larger vessel by a line. A pond in a clearing can mirror our hearts like a palm extended connects to arteries and carries blood from places deep and well hidden.Continue reading “The Water Awaits”
Losing Ground
by Laura Parker Roerden I saw a pair of ducks this afternoon, a male and female mallard. A hard, northwest wind had just begun to bow the smaller pines; clouds were gathering as the sky suddenly became a drop ceiling. A storm was coming down the river. The ducks seemed stalwart against the wind, though youContinue reading “Losing Ground”
The Hinge
by Laura Parker Roerden I love this world. And not just in morning, when the long, dark drug of night opens like a clam to the light. I love the hinge itself that swings back and forth as the tide washes over; an attempt at renewal. I love not just the mighty whale but theContinue reading “The Hinge”
In These Times
by Laura Parker Roerden Hitch your plow to a strong horse; It’s time to go into the fields once again to do the plodding work of planting one blessed seed after another. Blue seeds, purple ones, grey day ones: all pressed with intent into soil amended by bits of remaining trash transformed through alchemy into nutrient. Treasure the onesContinue reading “In These Times”