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Birth Moon

round, white
scar
severed connection
useless remnant of the blasted
birth
of all

© 2012 Elizabeth Ehrenfest Steinglass, all rights reserved

I just returned from Poetry for All, a children’s poetry workshop, at the Highlights Foundation in Boyds Mill, PA. It was such a pleasure to spend all my waking hours thinking about poetry. Our wonderful faculty included David L. Harrison, Eileen Spinelli, and Rebecca Kai Dotlich. Marjorie Maddox, author of  A Crossing of Zebras and Rules of the Game: Baseball Poems came one night and walked us through an exercise about extended metaphor. I wrote this that night back in my quiet, little cabin.

Full Moon from Creative Commons by gnuckx
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Hear Me?

My voice fades in waves invisible
To me. I cannot see if they slip
Down the funnels into your head
Or chase the edge of the universe. 

© 2012 Elizabeth Ehrenfest Steinglass, all rights reserved

Michel Martin on NPR’s Tell Me More is celebrating National Poetry Month with tweet-able poems of 140 characters or less. I had never tweeted before, but I gave it a try. Tweeting made me wonder where my poem went and inspired this tweet-able poem. Do tweeting and/or blogging make you feel more heard? Or less?

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An Army of Daffodils


An Army of Daffodils

Masses of daffodils have taken the hill.
On high they stand in search of enemies.
Whom do they imagine has the will
To move them? Tulips? Hyacinth? Pansies!
And whom on earth do they think they defend?
The house is Tudor, the oaks look fine.
Of course the forsythia count as friend.
They wear the same color, guard the same line.
I pause in the garden across the street,
Unafraid my motives will be mistaken.
Noting the crocuses fallen by my feet,
I open my notebook, raise my pen.
No match for the glaring army before me,
I take a flailing shot, give up, and flee.

© 2012 Elizabeth Ehrenfest Steinglass, all rights reserved

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Valentine Poem in Candy Hearts

CUTIE PIE
I HOPE
MY WAY
SWEET TALK
BE GOOD
BE MINE
ALL MINE
I DO
BE KIND
I DO
LOVE YOU
TRUE LOVE
HUG ME
MY BABY
YOU RULE

© 2012 Elizabeth Ehrenfest Steinglass, all rights reserved

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Snowbells

Snowbells in Cleveland Park

I nearly missed you

In my rush through the cold,
But the surprise of you caught
My eye: What was a flower
Doing out in the snow?
I saw you and I stopped.
But I couldn’t hear you.
My human ears failed
To hear your music.
What sound do you make
With your supple flesh?
Surely, not the tinkling
Of silver or crystal.
My human brain cannot
Imagine. Who can
Hear you? Mice? Fairies?
Flowers sleeping underground?
Do they waken to your song?

© 2012 Elizabeth Ehrenfest Steinglass,
    all rights reserved

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Eternal Round Trips

If I leave now and give myself
An eternity, I’m told I’ll never
Reach the edge of our universe,
Whose incomprehensible contours
Would eventually deposit me
Back at my front door to which
I have just returned, arms laden
With chicken and eggs, thoroughly
Comprehending that I will never
Reach the end of my to-dos.

© 2012 Elizabeth Ehrenfest Steinglass, all rights reserved

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School in Ideograms

S            The way I get from here to everywhere.           
C            Maybe sometimes it looks like I’m not getting anywhere.
H            Bridges between lines. Bridges all over the place.  
O            Doors. Sometimes they’re open. Sometimes they’re not.
O            My mouth, full of words and sounds.
    Do you want to hear them? All of them?
L            My foot. I’m leaving. Are you ready?
© 2011 Elizabeth Ehrenfest Steinglass, all rights reserved
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Poetry in Ideograms

P         a magnifying glass
           held up to
           anything
O         an open eye,
           a funnel conveying
           words
E         fingers grasping
           or letting go
T         a sheltering tree,
           a handle on a shaky train
R         a dance, a jig, one foot outstretched,
           ready for the next measure
Y         joy

© 2011 Elizabeth Ehrenfest Steinglass, all rights reserved

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Hyphae

Hyphae by TheAlphaWolf 2006 
Fingers poking through
the grass provide evidence
of the beast below,
a single fungal network
holding the earth together.

© 2011 Elizabeth Ehrenfest Steinglass, 
all rights reserved
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Wolves in the Woods

I know there are no wolves in these cold woods,
no bears, no foxes, no wolves, but I see
the hiding places, fallen trees, small mounds
of dirt, and branches just above my head.
I see the darkness here, but I can’t see
what’s hiding there. I hear the leaves erupt.
I know it is the sound of busy squirrels,
but still my heart suspects it might be wolves.
I’ve heard the stories about wolves and woods,
and children walking far from home alone,
the stories grown-ups told me before bed,
before they said the stories were not true.
I know there are no wolves in these cold woods,
But I am here, and I am full of thoughts.
© 2011 Elizabeth Ehrenfest Steinglass, all rights reserved
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