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I rush around
then—what?!
on my glass door
lead-pane wings
electric nattering—
You are alive!
neither hawk
nor mosquito—
anorexia in whispery black—
is that your brain?—
I stare intrusively
inquisitively at your skinny legs
2 top, two athwart, 2 aft
finest silk wings no Japanese silk
finer, emergent beauty fluttered
forth from our summer lawn
into this cumbersome world
same light, same night, same CO2
Do you see me back?
© by Grace Hughes Chappell.
Used with the author's permission.
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Grace Hughes Chappell says, over the years, she’s been a mom, a daughter, and a sister, has taken care of ‘things’ (house repairs, car repairs, relationship repairs), worked as a private tutor, an English teacher, a travel agent, a receptionist, a telephone book delivery-person, a house cleaner, a reader to the visually impaired, a caterer, a snow-shoveler, and a writer. Her work is widely published and she is the author of ten mile creek almanac. For 50-some years, Grace and her husband, Don, have lived in northern California, in Mendocino County, and in San Francisco but, as of 2024, they have relocated to Minneapolis, Minnesota, to be near family. Grace's advice for a good life is to be kind, enjoy your family and friends, don’t be a drag (laugh a lot, sing, dance, do anything
that involves music), read a lot, learn to cook a decent meal, watch sunsets and birds and dogs, find something to do for which you have some aptitude, then be willing to work hard at it!
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Wilda Morris:
Well done! I enjoyed the poem - and learned from it.
Posted 07/29/2021 07:41 PM
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Arlene Gay Levine:
Bravo, Grace! Your communion with Nature and wise advice make a fine poem and a joyous life. Loved "emergent beauty fluttered forth from our summer lawn into this cumbersome world"...
Posted 07/29/2021 12:01 PM
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michael escoubas:
Thank you, Grace, for painting this obscure creature with the brush of words. You give us much to think about.
Posted 07/29/2021 08:50 AM
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Larry Schug:
An adventurous, outside the lines write!
Posted 07/29/2021 07:55 AM
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Rob:
Love the moment of discovery at the beginning, the great descriptions, and the end query! Fun and lovely!
Posted 07/29/2021 06:06 AM
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