Sunday, February 15, 2015

Three poems by Charlene Jones

Here
This quiet, mist drift
already rising from lake face,

this moment here
holds mind delicately.

Elsewhere the mind
finds dreams less tolerable
less soluble in the heart,

but here, this moment
in the grace of morning,

one second upon the next,
a sense takes a step

in imagination
inspiration flows
from the chest.

We seek divine in rare
but nothing more spare

than this moment
this moment dear

the one here.



Communicates
While the full heart tears
at the ragged sleeve
pulling like a dog in heat

the mind pretends it does not hear

you walk yourself down to the dock
or along the city street
humming the latest jingle
hating yourself for doing that

so you text someone
to keep the noise down
inside the head noise

to distract and you hear
under the waves
your heart
tearing at your ragged sleeve

its teeth fully engorged
with your own blood

but you're checking the computer
and by now so linked up

not a thought alone occurs
you keep typing tapping and
thumbing yourself
into a word addiction
a slush of communication

meant to replace that
beating of the heart
beneath your sleeve


Daydream

If all my dreams came flying through my window
landing on this newly carpeted floor,
bandying about on their skinny legs,
bulging bellies all soft and saggy
the big wishes and the little, the secret
ones and those wearing an open face,
I’d fall on my face
laughing.

Maybe I will,
anyway.


Charlene Jones’ poetry has most recently appeared on Commuterlit. This, poem, “Visitors to the ROM” was a runner up in the Ontario Poetry Society’s annual Arborealis poetry contest. Charlene also writes for her radio program Off the Top with Whistle Radio, 102.7 fm, aired every second Tuesday from 3:00 to 3:30 p.m. (Note: Whistle Radio and CommuterLit have recently teamed up to run a monthly contest. Details here.) You can see Charlene perform her poetry and prose at Portobello Restaurant and Bar the first Saturday every month in Toronto. Finally,  Chalene’s first novel, The Stain was released in September.

See Brian Henry’s schedule here, including writing workshops and creative writing courses in Barrie, Brampton, Bolton, Burlington, Caledon, Cambridge, Collingwood, Georgetown, Guelph, Hamilton, Kingston, London, Midland, Mississauga, Newmarket, Niagara on the Lake, Orillia, Oakville, Ottawa, Peterborough, St. Catharines, Stouffville, Sudbury, Thessalon, Toronto, Windsor, Halton, Kitchener-Waterloo, Muskoka, Peel, Simcoe, York, the GTA, Ontario and beyond.

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