Poems submitted in 2020

by Lucille Anne Sanders, 2020

His magnificent musculature,
combined with persistent, painful practice,
evolves into an effortless excellence.

Jumps performed with joy.
Leaps lifted out of an inner laughter.
Rhythmic revolutions revealed.

Stories told through his body and music;
symbolic, somber, sexy and sassy.
Magic created from motion.

Trapezius and biceps
blending and beautifully bending
into a fluid fluttering flight.

Colorful costumes cohere
with a contemporary and creative choreography.
The mahogany planes of his fearless face illuminated.
The stage is his centering universe.

Fluid precision felt from fingers to feet.
His dance enthralls, entrances, elevates.
The audience enters into a mesmerized mysticism
of music and movement.

Suddenly he stops.
Silent in stillness.

At rest
his energy reverently reverberates.

by Sarah Layer, 2020

As I sit in the tall grass
I feel the warm wind blow through my hair
While the flowers sway in the wind
And the butterflies dance to each flower

The sun’s light shines on the creation
And its warmth fills the air
I listen to the birds sing their songs
And the brook nearby
As the forest trees shake their branches

The clouds move slowly
They cover the sky when they please
Making different shapes

Now the crickets start to chirp
And the sun is about to set
The coolness surrounds me
As the moon starts to glow
The day is done
With the peace still present

by Audrey Asaro, 2020

I have a dog name Josie, who has a heart-shaped, liver color nose,
To me she’s the cutest dog around, I love when she strikes a pose!
 
Her color is a brown and beige, it blends well all around,
She’s strong and limber, and jumps quite high, and weighs about 15 pounds!
 
My dog Josie is quite the girl…..
When I take her for a walk she loves to twirl and twirl!
 
I try to keep her walking on the straight and narrow,
but she always wants to greet the neighbors and the little birds and sparrows!
 
I take good care of my Josie girl, I brush her and feed her well each day,
She runs outside, I throw her sticks, she catches, and she plays runaway!
 
Josie, to me, has some of that sparkle and real Hollywood look!
I always think she could be in Star Wars or even the famous book!
 
Most days she likes to lick my face, my ears and even my toes
she makes me burst into a big laugh, her love she likes to show!
 
She’s quite the character, and sometimes she can bark and bark and bark,
And that can happen day or night, when she hears a creature or it’s quite dark!
 
She loves the family, little granddaughter Gianna, and we all do love her back,
Yes, that’s our Josie girl, she likes to protect us and that’s a true fact!
 
I love at night when I am reading quietly and she sits with so much attention,
Josie nudges near me, right by my side, and I feel her love and affection.

by Christie Leigh Babirad, 2020

You wear the sweater she gave you.
You say it’s to prove you are not held by the past.
This dark blue terry fits you just right.
A sentimental memory of hers,
worn with a first kiss over a foreign sea.
This was given in deep commitment
to the forever friendship she believed she shared with you.
You don’t need to remember, you say,
for this piece serves you so practically.
It’s almost as if it was never worn
over the heart you let go of so carelessly.
You say.

by Debbie Engelhardt, 2020

It’s a building full of books
(Want to take some home?)
It’s a place to be with others
When you’re feeling all alone.
 

It’s a place to take a class
Or to grab a DVD,
To bump into a neighbor,
Get your taxes done for free!
 

It’s a friendly space for people
In our community
Who don’t have very much 
And need a safe place to just “be”.
 

But, wait!
It’s closed!
That library we knew-
Where does that now leave us?
What’s a librarian
(And a community) to do?
 

Books are online to read and listen to!
Get a card on the web;
Your e-Library’s here for you!
 

Stream movies all month long 
(Hoopla and kanopy are great!)
And there’s nothing to return
So your stuff is never late!
 

If social media’s where you are,
Our Facebook game is strong,
Our website’s up-to-date,
Our virtual events list long!
 

Paint and Sip!
Hear a poem or story!
Try a new recipe – 
You’ll be in your glory!
 

Our Tik Toks amuse-
They’ll make you laugh!
You’ll see the hard work
Of our amazing staff!
 

For a library is people.
It’s you and it’s me.
A community center – 
Now virtually!
 

So visit today!
Be a part once again
Of all the Library offers-
And reconnect with old friends!
https://www.cplib.org

by Lucille Sanders, 2020

As summer’s end
invites in the cool night air
and a perceptible shift
in the sun’s light,
my time
for swimming in the warmth and buoyancy
of the Long Island Sound
is waning.

That always near,
yet almost unconscious
ache and stiffness
that is my body

being transformed,

by movement
through water and salt,

into the feeling of silken muscle,

will once again
become a memory
and a desire.

A desire deepening
into moments of longing
as I delight in walking
into the relief of more refreshing temperatures
and the softer embrace of the sun’s gentle golden light
dappling
throughout the fading green,
maroon-red, rusting-yellow and cinnamon-brown tapestry
that is the forest in fall.