Poetry

we’re again at our camp as green mountainers call cottages we have a loon – the long eerie descending wail was it an owl no it ended in that loony laugh – ergo two loons! swimming out front no loon eggs though; rain for 19 days in june raised the lake level over their nest […]

more nada #101 art bored with family stories?too bad here’s another I wasborn with an unsightly splotchat the base of my spine nothingharmful but my folks thoughtit a good idea to have it removedit left a hefty scar all during grade school my sister pat told her pals I’d been born with a tail they’dapproach […]

a recent column in wall street journalreported the effect of classical music oncows – news to them of course in nycI’ve been telling you for ages what cowslike (the three b’s) don’t (1812 cannons)they checked this, found it true, carriedresearch further – a pisciculturalistreports fish farms pipe song into theirponds (we all know whale tunes […]

family story, again thinking about babies and adoption – when I was a kid we knew those in ourclasses adopted it was a matter of no  significance – I did hear later a boy in the class behind me who I hadn’t knownwas adopted – had come at birth to a large catholic family immediately […]

a scientist I admirewrote about severallong term studiesspanning many yearsback to the seventieswhere groups withfalse beliefsthe world is flatthe sun circles uswere given irrefutableevidence theirbeliefs were falseyet the participantsall of them nowthoroughly convincedthe earth is not flatwe circle the sunwent right on beingflat earthers anywayso welcome everybodyto a flat earth and toan increasingly hot one

my sister went to morning kindergartenin an emergency one day our mom asked ifpatsy could go in the afternoon pat told meabout it many years later “I loved kindergartenthe toys, the things to draw on, being all on myown, but that day I came through the door intoa sea of unfamiliarity a crowd of strange […]

Haiku, in Memorium: Patricia Dougan Dalvit I’ve lost a sister . . . she’s gone to a distant climebringing it music . . . ©2017 Jacqueline Jackson

the anonymous student from theseventies reminded me of a writingassignment I once gave: “1. Have anadventure. 2. Write about it.” themuch appreciated letter got methinking about adventure – nodoubt someone asked what sort ofadventure I surely replied “howeveryou define the word” all life is anadventure when my daughter age10 came back from visiting thethicket beside […]

poem postal # 1 I can understand perfectly thosepostal folk, discovered years laterwith bathtubs full of undeliveredenvelopes it got too much hopelessthey couldn’t cope simply threw inthe towel now me I can fill a tub ina week with mail that arrives dailyhefty bundles needing rubber bandsevery heartbreak cause every franticpolitician plus bills ads events to […]

family story # 23 my granddaughter cressidaage eight having exhausted various play activities saidI guess I’ll put on my lab coatand go do an experiment ©2017 Jacqueline Jackson

the green mountains grace the horizonwhere we have a summer place one ofthe range resembles a gently curvingbreast complete with nipple wheneverdriving into the small town nearby we’dexit the woods and the skyline wouldcome into full view I’d always say “there’sbubby mountain” the kids offended wouldgroan complain roll their eyes upbraid meone trip we came […]

birdpoem # 11 thinking of that last passenger pigeondon’t want to research it again heardabout it all my life there were millionsbillions they darkened the sun for dayswhen they flew over we killed them all (just like we killed every dodo and areobliterating species every day) killedthem for sport and for selling when werealized pigeons […]