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A jay on the fence preaches to a
squirrel. I watch the squirrel quiver,
the way squirrels do – its whole
body flickers. I’m not sure why this
reminds me of when I was five and
something died in our drain spout.
Feather or fur, I watched my father
dig it out, knowing (as a child knows)
how much life matters. I have seen how
easily autumn shakes the yellow leaves,
how winter razes the shoals of heaven.
I have felt love’s thunder and moan, and
had my night on the wild river. I have
heard the cancer diagnosis with my name
in it. I know what mercy is and isn’t.
Morning breaks from sparrows’ wings
(life’s breezy business), and I’m still here,
still in love with the sorrows, the joys –
days like this, measured by memory, the
ticking crickets, the pulse in my wrist.
From What Matters (Welcome Rain Publishers, 2011).
Used with the author’s permission.
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Adele Kenny, an animal lover (especially dogs, and especially Yorkshire terriers), is the author of 25 books (poetry and nonfiction). A former creative writing professor, and twice a Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival Poet, she is founding director of the Carriage House Poetry Series and poetry editor of Tiferet Journal. The recipient of Kean University’s Distinguished Alumni Award, NJ State Arts Council poetry fellowships, and other awards,a first place Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award, and others, her current poems (often in prose poem form) focus on the ways in which the interior life intersects with the outside world. Learn more about her at www.adelekenny.com.
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Karen Chester:
I am deeply affected by this poem ... by its raw and tender truths ...
Posted 10/03/2011 01:45 AM
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Jo:
I'm with Anjie. That is the line that stays with me: "I kow what mercy is and isn't."
Thank you for What Matters.
Posted 10/01/2011 09:04 PM
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Anjie:
Amen, amen, amen! Adele, this is just fabulous. I LOVE this poem. Especially the line, "I know what mercy is and isn't."
Posted 10/01/2011 05:39 PM
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trailpny:
A gorgeous poem -- so many arresting lines, though I think I will carry with me from now on, "knowing (as a child knows)/ how much life matters." Thank-you.
Posted 10/01/2011 10:52 AM
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Ginny C.:
artfully done, a beautiful poem...
Posted 10/01/2011 08:55 AM
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dotief@comcast.net:
Painfully beautiful and very true!
Posted 10/01/2011 08:47 AM
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phebe.davidson@gmail.com:
Me too! This poem is a heartening poem.
Posted 10/01/2011 07:23 AM
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penhart:
This is a beautiful poem, Adele! Congratulations to you, dear friend, both for this posting and for your new book. I, too, know the feeling of celebrating being "still here" with days "measured by memory." Thank you!
Posted 10/01/2011 07:08 AM
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