A Tuesday poem - and a writing exercise

Covenant

On my dark tongue, on my honeycomb bones
my brittle hair and these eyes the clouds pass by
un-named. On your nervous stutter, on your runner's legs
your scarred arm and the contraband you can't
declare. On the poem I put on replay,
my lost bankbooks, my first husband's advice.
On your cellared wine, your forms
in triplicate, your ex-girlfriend's intervention order.

A word like salt or troth
a word that can't add up
lawyers fees
access weekends
child support payments.
Like blood on the tongue.

On my dark honeycomb
my brittle and the clouds that pass by.
On your nervous running
your scars and undeclared contraband.
On our thirst, on our hunger.

Catherine Bateson, Marriage for Beginners, John Leonard Press, 2009.

I have to stop posting my own poems - do forgive me, gentle reader. I haven't been in touch with any poets, am snowed under with the beginning of the teaching year and I've been trying to write every day and learn French. Not to mention the felting.

To cheer everyone up - here's a fun writing exercise, especially for Valentine's Day:
Write a Valentine's message to yourself. Make it real. Love yourself and pour that love into a poem or prose poem or song lyric.

Oh, and before you do that, skip over to the Tuesday Poem blog and read some more Tuesday poems.

From facebook status to short story, poem, novel beginning....the cyber world is your oyster!

Love it or hate it - and I oscillate between the two - Facebook looks as though it is here to stay. You must have at least one fb friend who writes interesting, entertaining, poetic or humourous status updates. Today take one of these and use it for your own writerly devices.

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

Wallace Stevens' famous poem provides a useful model with which to ponder, illuminate or explore ordinary elements of our world.

Think of writing:

Thirteen Ways of Hearing Rain
Thirteen Ways of Driving
Thirteen Aspects of My Lover
Thirteen Searches on Google
Thirteen Decisions to Regret
Thirteen Ways to Fall in Love
Thirteen Ebay Transactions