Poetry

lake poem 2018 #1 we’re back to this spot where we’ve comefor so many years usual plumbing probsnatch plus mice chippy squirrel detritusstill the lake is clear cool I’ve heard abullfrog, owls – and the loons! last nightit sounded like a whole well-oiled partynone could stop laffin laffin laffin noother sound is anything at all […]

personal poem# 15 our folks bought us the world bookan impressive row of blue volumesalphabetized holding all the wisdomof the world we had other books (wewere a bookish family) but this classycompendium intrigued us my sisterand I decided we’d read them straightthrough we were maybe eight andten I soon realized the enormity theimpossibility of the […]

already old news: screwy poem whole world’s eyes have beenriveted on saving a dozen trappedboys international sighs of relief(though some may have lung fungus:they’re isolated on a special ward)how fickle is news it focuses oncurrent crises: here in US thousandstoddlers to teens still unrescued tornfrom parents our govt not knowingwhere many are – herded into […]

archival find poem # 7 a letter from my dad, circa 1980: hereports my sister, “that superstitiouswench,” wrote him if he didn’t drinkfor a week something nice would happenhe didn’t drink for a week and the doublemartini he treated himself to at the end ofthat period “was the nicest thing thathappened to me all week.” […]

S O S poem this is a blatant call for help to those who had classes with me or traveled overseas on those quirky hostel jaunts a fine local writer is assigned to write about me yes I know corrine frisch did that splendidly in this paper whenvol 4 came out but the slant of […]

border babies poem #1 for June 28 I’m sure almost all of us areheartsick heartsick heartsick atthe inhumane cruelty to childrenfamilies the ugliness our gutlessland has become our sewer ethicsfear for our grandkids great-grandsfolks, I pose us this basic questionclimate change is upon us we’reliving in a new geologic epoch ofour own making clever sapiens […]

archival poem #9 annette who is helping mearchive (for the universityof wisconsin due this veryday to arrive with a truckto collect 52 boxes of primarymaterial from my farm sagaplus a 60 lb cow-drinking-cupa stanchion & ceramic salt dish)said last week: “I wish we’d getinto something more boring.”she was serious, meaning wecould then sort faster, but […]

 archival data discovered #7 poking through a file on insecticidesafter ww2 we all embraced DDTtill silent spring let us know the sheerhorror I think it was banned (it still got sold to third world countries) nomore mention in our records archerdaniels midland was a small companyoperating out of minnesota in the 30’smonsanto wasn’t much yet […]

Unsolicited poem by Mitch HopperJ.Jackson’s buddy and tech-expertwhose words have appeared in thisspace before, credited or uncredited A secret with Jackie is weak.A small part of her mind it does tweak.It’s between us she’ll claim,just to ease up your brain.But it’ll end up in IT for next week. But fear not: your words are secure,No […]

archives poem #1 now that I’m archiving recordsfrom the farm I grew up on – UWiswants them – I’m going over stuffused (or not) in my work now mostlyforgotten I just called my sister toreport her birth was recalled in ayellowed clipping: “Merton Miller,county speed cop, has new motorcycle. . .  a daughter Joan is […]

freedom poem #3 I don’t know if she’s over the moonyet but the helium-bloated bovineballoon with “Holy Cow! AnotherBirthday!” blazoned on her flank(a recent gift) slipped her halter aswe were handing her to a downblockkid to have the thrill of holding herwe watched bossy ruefully as, lodgedfar up in a maple tree, she worked herway […]

poem on chaplain firing #1 never under-es-tu-mitthe power of a je-su-it ©2018 Jacqueline Jackson