tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53647920772976076952024-02-20T08:14:45.602-08:00On My Way To Forty - PoemsKristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-37655266631917905672014-06-16T05:31:00.000-07:002014-06-16T05:31:20.907-07:00Contents<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://onmywaytofortypoems.blogspot.com/2014/06/40-summers.html">40 Summers</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://onmywaytofortypoems.blogspot.com/2014/06/literary-connections.html">Literary Connections</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://onmywaytofortypoems.blogspot.com/2014/06/and-one-day-you-remember.html">And one day you remember</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://onmywaytofortypoems.blogspot.com/2014/06/what-else-can-we-do-but-love-it.html">What else can we do but love it</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://onmywaytofortypoems.blogspot.com/2014/06/when-i-go-home-again.html">When I go home again</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://onmywaytofortypoems.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-story-of-us.html">The story of us</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://onmywaytofortypoems.blogspot.com/2014/06/writer-in-residence.html">Writer in residence</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://onmywaytofortypoems.blogspot.com/2014/06/words.html">Words</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://onmywaytofortypoems.blogspot.com/2014/06/october.html">October</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://onmywaytofortypoems.blogspot.com/2014/06/one-dream-at-time.html">One Dream at a Time</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://onmywaytofortypoems.blogspot.com/2014/06/everything.html">everything</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://onmywaytofortypoems.blogspot.com/2014/06/sears-catalogue.html">Sears <o:p></o:p>catalog</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://onmywaytofortypoems.blogspot.com/2014/06/private-losses.html" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Private Losses</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://onmywaytofortypoems.blogspot.com/2014/06/in-vermont.html">In Vermont</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://onmywaytofortypoems.blogspot.com/2014/06/this-much-i-know.html">This much I know</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://onmywaytofortypoems.blogspot.com/2014/05/summer.html" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Summer</a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://onmywaytofortypoems.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-world-is-too-much.html">The World is Too Much</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://onmywaytofortypoems.blogspot.com/2014/05/living-western-for-now.html">Living Western; For Now</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://onmywaytofortypoems.blogspot.com/2014/05/that-day.html">That Day</a></span></div>
Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-36578904310470611752014-06-15T05:05:00.001-07:002014-06-15T05:06:41.213-07:0040 summers<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">eight summers at the Jersey Shore</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
one summer in the Rocky Mountains and western National Parks<br />
fifteen summers on the rocky, New England coast<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">five summers in the northeast woods<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">one summer in Nova Scotia with a man I loved<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">ten summers in ski towns.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-84454724192670288742014-06-14T04:57:00.001-07:002014-06-14T04:57:03.354-07:00Literary Connections <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Second grade Plattsburgh, New York</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
Mrs. Farrah teaches us to read without moving our lips at Oak St School<br />
I am one of the kids who can do it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />Fifth grade, Mr. Oliver reads Harriet the Spy
to the class.<br />
After school I read Little House on the Prairie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />In the middle of Eighth Grade my family moves
to Rye New Hampshire.<br />
Ms. Balz teaches me grammar; I learn the difference between your and you’re.<br /><br />In Tenth grade I read Dreiser in English class and fall in love with literature.
<br />
I read Welty and Cather and imagine being western. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />I read How Green is My Valley <br />
Because I like the name.<br />
I learn, y<i>ou can go back and have what
you like if you remember it well enough</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />In Twelfth grade Diane and I change the
lyrics to a Simon and Garfunkel song <br />
As we ride a Greyhound bus to New York City. <br />
I meet my soul mate and we read Gone With the Wind on stormy winter evenings,<br />
We meet in the library, and talk about our books, <br />
He shows me his world of nature and hiking, <br />
Of Love<br />
We go to Boston, the computer museum, the White Mountains, Prom and<br />
Separate<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />After high school I watch The Outsiders, <br />
Soda Pop quotes Robert Frost N<i>othing Gold
can stay</i><br />
during a sunset<br />
I read more Frost, he says that <i>my life
is a pursuit of a pursuit forever</i> <br />
And begin to understand interminable longing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />I travel to Denver, Philadelphia, Boise,
Portland, Fairbanks, and Missoula<br />
Glasgow, Edinburgh, Paris, London, Geneva<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />Listening to Jackson Browne sing about maps
and angels<br />
<i>you've had to hide sometimes, but now
you're all right</i> <br />
and start to believe it <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />Allison and I listen to Lawrence Ferlinghetti
at Philips Exeter Academy<br />
It is the first time I hear a poem spoken by its writer<br />
we sneak into his private receptions<br />
This is the first time I see a real poet, up close.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />I read Walker, Lessing<br />
I’m searching for my mother’s gardens, too<br />
I try to write my Golden Notebooks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />I remember a line from a book that spoke to
me once<br />
<i>you can go back and have what you like if
you remember it well enough</i><br /><br />I remember<br />
and what I remember becomes a story<br />
and a poem, and a book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-54574205760118660792014-06-13T05:12:00.001-07:002014-06-13T05:12:27.260-07:00And one day you remember<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Can one person really make you forget</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
all past disappointments,<br />
past hurts?<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">and then one day, while walking<br />
in a copper landscape<br />
you realize<br />
you have forgotten everything<br /><br />Because the day is sweet, perfect,<br />
filled with love.<br />
<br />
and you become thankful for delayed snow storms<br />
and yet-to-be-filled promises<br />
as the yellow aspen leaves crunch, crunch<br />
under four boots and twelve paws.</span>Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-49811202429049386992014-06-12T05:11:00.000-07:002014-06-12T05:26:50.274-07:00What else can we do but love it<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Granby, Colorado</i></span><br />
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Sprawled under the desk<br />
I feel her breath on my toes<br />
Blond tail curls under her rear legs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">wanders to the other side of the room<br />
to watch me by the door, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />head perks to attention to the rumbling and roaring<br />
of the sky opening up<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">glad for the rains<br />
that soak the tinder beetle-killed lodgepole<br /><br />delays fires that<br />
will eventually come.<br /><br />fires that will destroy the forest and trails where <br />
we walk <br />
every day<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />Lodgepole pine fill the view from this desk<br />accepting the red, brown landscape<br />
<br />
What else can I do but love it<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br />the storms pass and the tail <br />
bang, bangs against the wall<br />
eager eyes look at me from my knees<br />
as we head out <br />raindrops on a metal roof<br />
clang, clang<br />
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Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-30674550532237285612014-06-11T05:26:00.002-07:002014-06-11T05:26:37.105-07:00When I Go Home Again<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Previously published in Clapboard House Review 2010<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When I go home again<br />
I go to the places that have stayed the same<br />
the rocky coast of New Hampshire, <br />
where there is sometimes sand<br />
and homes filled with children and rules<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">the wooden kitchen table <br />
in summer<br />
feels, damp with east coast humidity<br />
<br />
the kitchen desk filled with photos and cards<br />
a Frost poem-card about swinging from branches<br />
<i>one could do worse than be a swinger of
branches</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />My old room with the single bed removed,<br />
now home to a model railroad <br />
<br />
I take in the smells <br />
hear Mom and Dad repeat their skit <br />
<i>I didn’t call you for dinner yet<br />
What a bummer dinner isn’t ready yet<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />I write this in the Colorado aridity <br />
remembering humidity and humor <br />
my first home<br />
<br />
and no matter what age appears on forms <br />
or spoken when asked <br />
I still need her okay, her approval.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">every day,<br />
her love matters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-11883595760337591462014-06-10T04:57:00.003-07:002014-06-10T04:57:54.795-07:00The Story of Us<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Come to me</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">we will play king of the island<br />and eat meatball subs<br />unless you are vegetarian now<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />remember Lafayette, Whiteface<br />
where you showed me your world<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />And I will tell you the story of us<br />
sitting on the beach<br />
watching the storm come in<br />
and how we ran,<br />
at the very last minute<br />
to the car<br />
and got soaked<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />Will you come<br />
stay with me?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />Here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><br clear="all" style="mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" />
</span>
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<br /></div>
Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-34881539571977744172014-06-09T05:00:00.001-07:002014-06-09T05:03:49.774-07:00Writer in Residence<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">with a flick of a gloved hand</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
a dusting of snow sprays off the green picnic table</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
with a view of the craggy peaks</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />at this movement</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
becoming writer in residence</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
on top of East Peak</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />a new tradition for the holidays</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
a hike with dogs</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
pen, paper</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to commemorate a tradition</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">to give thanks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br />watching the landscape</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">
of red lodgepole pines</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">
Fraser River Canyon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">
Continental Divide </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">of sage</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">and wildflowers</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">
all buried under snow</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">while sitting atop the world, </span>Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-62128072176193316122014-06-08T04:20:00.000-07:002014-06-08T04:20:51.860-07:00Words<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">forgetting words is easy </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
when you go to work<br />
the post office<br />
the grocery store<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">but just the other day<br />they saved me<br />
Martin Eden <br />
Angle of Repose <br />
Their Eyes Were Watching God <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">saved me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-10537979978339490572014-06-07T04:30:00.001-07:002014-06-07T04:31:01.823-07:00October<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">brown oval leaves</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">hand shaped rocks with moss<br />signs of glaciers moving through<br />
years ago<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />twigs, logs<br />
scattered<br />from human intrusion<br />
worsened by snowmobile, ski<br />
trails<br />
<br />winter arrives<br />
soon<br />
signaling the last Maine winter<br />
for me<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">dogs bound over alphabet trees </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">canadian geese fly high below apostrophe clouds <br />a squirrel sits at attention<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-24343506080760699362014-06-06T04:51:00.004-07:002014-06-06T04:51:39.566-07:00One Dream at a Time<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">One dream at a time</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
but wanting them all <br />
patience is no friend<br />
<br />
He has dreams too<br />
and I see them in his eyes<br />
How they feed him<br /><br />
Can you feel my dreams?<br />
I want to speak of them<br />
but do not<br />
<br />
Can you see <br />
the possibilities <br />
I want to ask<br />
as I bury my head in his shoulder<br />
<br />
this face,<br />
I turn up to you,<br />
no one else on earth,<br />
has ever seen. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-73456836992933888662014-06-05T04:52:00.001-07:002014-06-05T04:52:24.046-07:00everything<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">rustling aspen leaves in the wind</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
wake me from deep, late waking sleep <br /><br />the dream is still with me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I move closer <br />
to the one<br />next to me<br />who has chosen<br />
me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />I needed him this morning<br />
next to me, and he was there<br />and wanted to be<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />these are not small matters,<br />they mean everything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-48882215040082499042014-06-04T04:47:00.007-07:002014-06-16T05:26:14.302-07:00Sears catalog<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The furniture of my future life </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">was in the Sears <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">catalog</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">and built in Nike shoe boxes<br />
dioramas of perfection<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">no cinder block bookshelves<br />
no metal pipes, wood for a desk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />In this future there were f</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">lowery drapes, a pine desk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
beds with curtains and four posts<br />
dish sets matched the flour container<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">towels matched bed linen<br />
toothbrush holder matched soap pump<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />All my dreams matched perfectly<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />Today<br />
nothing matches, <br />
no flowers, no pine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Just landscape<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-29790863118591756522014-06-03T05:04:00.001-07:002014-06-03T05:04:12.058-07:00Private Losses<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">When do you start<br />
to forget the losses<br />
you know<br />
the losses that sustain you,<br />
the losses that hold the bitterness <br />
of the life you may have had<br />
if everything worked out <br />
as hoped<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Hope<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />lost hope <br />
through years of solitude<br /><br />not bad years <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">well, maybe one,<br />
when he said <br />
<i>you haven’t laughed in a long time<br />
</i><br />
losses pass <br />
as the sun rises over the divide<br /><br />
Can you name your private losses? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I can<br />
but won’t<br />
for they don’t matter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-7597081611909715302014-06-02T05:05:00.001-07:002014-06-17T05:10:21.861-07:00In Vermont<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">On the day I wanted to be an artist<br />
I walked into a poetry reading<br />
at a small Rutland bookstore<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">a woman with long, gray hair<br />rings and earrings<br />
reading a poem <br />she said,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I
carry my life like a backpack.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-89082299352468577752014-06-01T05:46:00.002-07:002014-06-01T05:46:29.937-07:00This Much I Know<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Some dreams just don’t come true</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
but still, you keep trying<br />
thinking of the one way ticket back<br /><br /><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">and leaving it all behind<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-92209994719977462482014-05-31T04:41:00.003-07:002014-05-31T04:41:38.022-07:00Summer<h1>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>2008</i></span></span></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Summer is gone<br />winter arriving in all its whiteness</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Everything I had in summer <br />
gone too<br /><br />
Desire, Hope<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />What remains<br />
is left unsaid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-63079643965281898852014-05-30T06:07:00.000-07:002014-05-30T06:07:14.076-07:00The World is Too Much<h1>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">September 12, 2008</span></span></h1>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The world is too much</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />Wanting to participate; yet <br />
remaining detached<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />I want to care about words, the world<br />
coming back to the car payment; rent<br />
the things that never change<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />I am a pretender<br />
<i>packing my lunch in the morning<br />
</i>wanting to live to live in a world where<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Thoughts matter<br />
<br />
Can love and kindness exist here?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-73196761821877078832014-05-29T06:20:00.000-07:002014-06-16T05:38:25.423-07:00Living Western; For Now <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I know my family wonders,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">
why I live here, not there,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Meaning, living eastern.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">with a lower case e<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">when in the west does the east seem inferior<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">when easterners don’t acknowledge <i>west of the Missouri</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">and here the state is pronounced <i>miz-our-a</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I look out the window,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The poet’s window eastern poet Billy Collins
writes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">back in the day, was a wall<br />
and laugh at poet humor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I see the sage, mule deer<br />
through the poet's window<br />
where a lone moose, stands in the front yard, chomping on <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">wheat, as dogs bark<br />
it is immense, and beautiful, and mythic.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This scene in the Colorado mountains may not
have happened<br />
if I lived eastern<br />
although moose wander in northern New England<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And, me, being a poet, and writer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">and a moose lingering in my yard<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">and me, having two dogs<br />
certainly seems western, in my mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br />
I walk to the ancient rock<br />
a mile jaunt from my house<br />
looking down to the Fraser River and <br />
into the Fraser Canyon where <br />
Union Pacific railroad tracks parallel the flowing river<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I wonder<br />
how long will I be here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I don’t know the answer and hope there is no
answer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">But know the pull of family <br />
and being singular, and family loved<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I will be back,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Back East, Back Home, Back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">For now, this place<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This landscape of mountains, river, wildlife,
<br />
this harsh, arid, unbending space<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">That spared my dogs, that makes me write<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">That made me, me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">is home.<br />
I stare out my western window to a blue sky
<br />
and see my own geography<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">of
hope. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5364792077297607695.post-8137479471209648542014-05-28T06:27:00.000-07:002014-05-28T06:27:33.468-07:00That Day<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Originally published </span><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small; line-height: 19.5px;"><a href="http://www.diversevoicesquarterly.com/Vol1Issue3and4.pdf">Diverse Voices Quarterly</a></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">She tells me it’s the isotopes in the air<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">That make me grumpy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">grey, white air <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">After 14 days of sunshine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The change in air and landscape<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">causes lethargy <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Becoming unproductive<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Unhappy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">And while people I know<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Wait for test results<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">for husbands <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">for children<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">paychecks<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I just wait for snow<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">and sun<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">on the cusp of happiness<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><br clear="all" style="mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" />
</span>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Kristen Lodgehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08501948118265342268noreply@blogger.com0Colorado, USA39.5500507 -105.7820674000000239.5500507 -105.78206740000002 39.5500507 -105.78206740000002