Screaming Under Water
I
don’t like silence,
I
like this.
Have
the children been out today?
I
love silence.
The
orchid is lavender,
like
the shirt of the aide.
Beautiful
sounds –
I
have a stack of cd’s
and books,
I
have nothing else.
Love
makes a house a home.
I
have loved
every
person I have ever known.
It
never goes away –
I
never lose any of it.
The
woman who screams under water
is
in a lot of pain,
but
not above the water.
If
you wanted to join the Red Cross
you
had to swim many laps
to
prove your endurance.
I
am a person who needs
a
lot of time – I am a Buddhist
and
I got this out of it.
The
love is impressed through every letter.
One
thing that could not be taken away:
imagination.
Could
you close the window? –
I’m
cold.
I
want to be out of here.
Silence in the Storm
Silence
can say more than speaking.
It
can be more intense
and
safer.
My
godfather was an evangelist.
He
used to say: that’s another star in your crown.
My
mother once told me
to
go to her bedroom,
but
don’t touch the brush,
lay
down on your stomach
and
don’t move.
What
crimes do three-year olds make?
None.
In
a sports game I expect
to
be bounced around like a ball.
Shoes
used to be filled with straw for warmth.
A
black orchid keeps Brenda Star alive.
Sometime’s
silence is not enough.
Either
the poet was battered,
or
he did the battering.
I
used to dream so often,
I
don’t so much anymore –
I
am kind of thankful for that.
Screaming Under Water and Silence in the Storm were created in sessions in Santa Fe, New Mexico led by APP artist Joanne Dwyer working with the poets of Kingston and Rosemont respectively.
The model poems Dwyer used included: “Silence” Billy
Collins; “A Poem for S.”
Jessica Greenbaum; “Don’t Tell Anyone”
Tony Hoagland and “Home” Edgar Albert
Guest.
Dwyer writes of one of the sessions, "
The atmosphere at can be quite chaotic as was
this visit.
It made it hard at times to talk above the volume. I
was nervous, unsure of how this session would go and was relieved and greatly
surprised (and pleased) that once I began reading the first poem the whole
place hushed and a sense of quiet and peace ensued."
