alice-barrett

[alice-barrett]

Written by Satan

Satire

The Bill of Rights was written by Satan. When I read them in high school, I was old enough. I can’t find them anywhere since then.  I guess no one is old enough. . Some were okay; we saved number 2 and 3 and 16. We have some soldiers staying with us now. And mom has two guns to keep us safe. . Some black kid punched my brother. Everyone saw. He got sent up. A criminal is a criminal is…

[alice-barrett]

Come to the Stone

           by Randall Jarrell The child saw the bombers skate like stones across the fields  As he trudged down the ways the summer strewed  With its reluctant foliage; how many giants  Rose and peered down and vanished, by the road The ants had littered with their crumbs and dead. “That man is white and red like my clown doll,” He says to his mother, who has gone away. “I didn’t cry, I…

[alice-barrett]

What Eve Chose

Eve chose knowledge over obedience, and escaped Eden. . She embraced the snake with open arms and ate. . She ran through the open gate smiling. . Eve knew. . With joy, she learned to dance. In suffering, she learned to heal, . In this world where Everything would never be named. . ….

[alice-barrett]

Prayers to Mary

Celtic Goddess Danu (source unknown) 1 Prayer to Mary Where are You hiding in this bleak time? The grey sky is covering where I stand. This is Your time to  Dig in the rubble, And search for my heart, Or at least to hold my hand. 2 Another Prayer to Mary You are at the end of my in breath, So close  Yet out of reach. The climber swings free, and In a panic cannot reach the rope. The…

[alice-barrett]

Waiting in the Rain

Waiting in the Rain

I am standing in the rain, Just standing here, looking into the grey air, Getting wet. . The country is raining down all that is worst in our nature As if these things had always been with us, In threatening clouds above us, Waiting for some thundering rage to let loose. . Soaked to the bone, I pray for forgiveness for not looking up into that coiled storm we knew must break. It is…

[alice-barrett]

Poetry Race for the Center for New Americans!

The Center for New Americans Poetry-A-Thon is on!

This year I am joining the race to raise funds for the Center for New Americans in Northampton. This year we have new students from Ukraine and other countries around the world. From our director: Why it matters – Every ESOL program in our region has a waitlist for classes.   Every community-based program offering low cost asylum application assistance has a waitlist.  The media reports that…

[alice-barrett]

Roisin's Telling 2

Roisin’s Telling 2

The wind’s coming in the cracks now. The wind’s shifted as it does.  I am skinned with it.  This is when Peg ‘d gather me up with a laugh and tell me to stop the complaining.  She was the worst weaver in the county and her blanket couldn’t keep out a cool whiff.  But her full body was warm with comfort and her arms held my breasts  until the heat consumed us both  and afterwards we…

[alice-barrett]

The Coming Cold

While reading Prehistoric Farming in Europe

The time now is The Coming Cold. The sun will lower again tomorrow  and again tomorrow and the next. Life up in the mountain croft is restless, I can feel it. . The paths down will soon be black and the cows will must lead the way down. The lads will follow them down to the pens, No work needed as the dumb animals will slowly  follow each other down,  Save for the dumbest of all who…

[alice-barrett]

Another Autumn Poem

The sun blasts orange through the trees, A last grasp to cling to the day. It’s rays tear Through the branches, reaching out to us, Pleading for us not to let it slip below the hill. We watch unmoved, or perhaps a little sad. We too will slip below, but not yet. We watch, curious to see what we can learn From the beauty of that last grasp.

[alice-barrett]

A Heavy Rain

I am standing in the rain, Just standing here, looking into the grey air, Getting wet. The sky is raining down all that is worst in our nature As if these things had always been with us, In threatening clouds above us, Waiting for some thundering rage to let loose. Soaked to the bone, I pray for forgiveness for not looking up into that coiled storm we knew must break. It is not too late…

[alice-barrett]

Hallow E'en 2021

Hallow E’en 2021

Who’s that knocking, knocking at our door? Their cloths are tattered, their eyes too big; They smell of dregs and speak in tongues. Like trolls, they sleep under bridges, Demanding a token from each passerby. Cover your ears, they have a banshee wail, loud devil music, and cry long into the night. Like Hungry Ghosts, they feed on crumbs. Go lock the cupboard, we can’t feed them all. They…

[alice-barrett]

Wife

White birch bark is curling on one of the south windowsills. It is a silvery grey, actually, with black smudges. My wife collects these wide silver strips from the forest floor, Gathers them gently and places them on windowsills. She wanders in the wood with our black dog, pausing to assemble tiny people from twigs and moss,  acorn caps and bits of Play Dough from her pocket. The little…

[alice-barrett]

Spring Tanka

Spring Tanka The first seeds planted Settle in a cold wet ground A bit too early in spring.    The seeds and the gardener    Place bets against another frost. …. The first seeds planted Settle in a cold wet ground A bit too early in spring   The seeds and the gardener    Are dusted with cool faint rain. …. The first seeds planted Settle in a cold wet ground A bit too early in…

[alice-barrett]

Autumn Haiku

autumn cold –

watching a coup

slowly melt

[alice-barrett]

The Making of the Book of Kells

The Making of the Book of Kells

Some monk somewhere made slow delicious love to each letter,

holding each word close to his hand, his face, his heart.

Was it the sound of the letter that revealed its intricate shape?

Slowly, after listening and sleeping and waiting for it to speak?

Or did the sound of the whole word open the canvas before him?

The pen was carefully crafted, the nib stroked and stroked again.

The ink was pounded…

[alice-barrett]

How Haiku Saved My Soul

How Haiku Saved My Soul

Haiku instructions:

Stop

Look around

Listen

Smell

Feel your skin

Take a breath

Optional: write a few phrases.

Suggestions for opportunities to write haiku:

In a forest

On a mountain

On Main Street Northampton

In front of a fire

Standing in line at WalMart

On a march for justice

Holding a sign at a protest (carry a pencil, back of sign is useful for haiku)

Changing a diaper

Etc.

How to judge haiku:

[alice-barrett]

Lessons 2

Basho

A burning sun

slowly going down to drown –

Mogami River

  Me

One feather of sunlight

settles on the icy lake

gently gently

  .