A beachcomber’s drift is a writer’s last resort when you’re ghosted by a poem you almost wrote When you lost your pick swallowed by salt water when the breakers take you under and sweep the shore clean But soon you start again with a second fiddle poem the ocean in a shell listening to itself […]
Sun or shade sandpiper ballet sandbox spa seagulls caw happy clams make tidal plans dolphins cruise the salty blue
It’s slow going with my house on my back like our Palomino truck camper with the windows loosely latched I’m headed to the beach Not the one from my childhood but the closest one I can find I hear the crunch of driveway gravel and feel the threat of oblivious drivers who justify the means […]
The weatherman said no rain in the forecast but I woke to a dark room and the sound of a downpour with my nightgown on backwards and a dreamed lie to ponder This poem sounded better In my head _______________Colleen Redman / Poets and Storytellers United
The sky is a blue canvas for the tallest sunflowers A hummingbird whirs in search of bright colors Leaves glide from trees like swallowtails surfing Bird calls grow faint and unconvincing The muted cheers of crickets invade the stillness An indigo-tailed chameleon scurries to hide Weeds drop seeds and tomatoes crack open A boastful chicken […]
The only thing my congressman’s representation is worth is the stamp on the return envelope of his fundraising letter which I plan to pull off and use to pay a bill if his boss doesn’t ruin the Post Office by then He wants my money and wants my vote but calls me names like “the […]
What now sparrow? Will the meek inherit the earth or will the squeaky wheel run over it? Will the few cut in line and leave the many behind? Will they hit and run and spin their sins? What now sparrow? Will the voices of reason prevail Will the flock fall or fly rise above the […]
-The following poem was published in 1994 in The New River Free Press’s Appalachian Voices. It’s from a collection of Floyd-based poetry/prose that I read with Little River Poetry Festival co-founder Jack Callan at this year’s festival, titled “Where Else But Floyd? A 30+ Year Retrospective in poetry and essay excerpts.” When’s the last time […]
From kimono to sundress to a wet bathing suit hanging from a porch chair in the afternoon A battle with deer for my lilies and phlox Saving corn and hens with an electric fence The click of a cold can Sparkling black cherry Sliced ripe tomatoes Flat beans to snap The sky’s weight hangs Drowsy […]
A scratch of light marks the sky’s western shoulder like a night tattoo of unfinished moon __________Colleen Redman / Poets and Storytellers United
I think of every part of life as a developmental stage. We learn to walk and talk. We develop attachments and a conscience. We are attracted to others, try new things, do work that we love and hope to be recognized. It all goes according to some unspoken schedule and with every stage we can […]
Lost like the sins in confession that I didn’t remember committing like the clothes left in closets whenever I moved and all the high school boys I said ‘no’ to It looked so much like the day before that I didn’t notice I had lost it My gold wedding ring that slipped off in the […]
Left, right Left, right We’re marching in file to the edge of a cliff Left, right Left, right It’s an artificial construct to widen the gulf between either or But the innocents are the cause we rise to stand for The conscience is the drum worthy to follow the beat of Right, wrong Right, wrong […]
It’s all bumper cars hitting and running and the same old merry-go-round we can’t get off It’s all about the photo-op the selfie, the selfie smoke and mirror fun house and the dizzy spin of news I’m wearing a bandana now like Def Leppard in the 1980s when Michael Jackson told us bad was good […]
From an undressed flush of morning sky the moon’s half slip hangs without regret in a pastel shade of blushed sunrise _________Colleen Redman / Poets and Storytellers United
-The following was written by the Little River Poetry Festival co-founder Jack Callan and first appeared in The Floyd Press on June 4, 2020. The Festival will take place June 12-14, 2020 at On the Water in Floyd. What if you were out with your dog an’ it run off with no, “May I go?”, […]
Injustice is a pig pile bearing down on our backs a suffocating weight that tests the limits of what we can take Our collective knees are bruised from the wear of prayer and protest Sometimes we are called to stand to shake off the onslaught of insult to injury to drown out false power with […]
Leave it to a poet to have his last words upon leaving this world be: “My ride showed up.” – John Trudell February 15, 1946 – December 8, 2015 There’s an urge to contract that brings waves of panic the kind my sister had when she started chemo for the cancer she knew would likely […]
