Lit eZine Vol 4 | p-14 | POETRY | In My Life – Manic Sylph Writes… Poetry & Thoughts by Mona Soorma

SHORT POEMS

IN MY LIFE
by Michael Shoemaker

Daisies growing by a fence — *Image by* *Michael Shoemaker*

TAKING THE LONG ROAD HOME

I trekked out
in a flurry
beating hot thin dust
on the trail
burdened with 
the swiftness
of worry 
and pretense.

On the way back
there will be 
no such error.

I will take time
to lean on the
old picket fence
and stare at the
far distance, of 
the mist rising 
above the hills
counting my brothers

And watch
the quail bolting 
the trees
to lie on the
cool damp ground
in the meadow,
tasting the tang
of wild raspberries.

I will look up 
and salute the 
bottom of daisies
listening to the musical
consonance of bees
that must also breathe
in the sweet smell
of the graciousness of grasses.

And sit in, playing  
light and shadow
almost like a laugh
by the brook
with feet immersed
in cold brisk liquid-
self-transcendence.

You ask me 
how to live —
This is how.

ALL IN A POT

One November late afternoon                                              
slanted shadows                                                                          
fell on white sidewalks                                                                                                               
on a dead-end street.

My missionary companion and I 
in the city of Córdoba, Argentina
pressed our bicycle hand brakes
seeing something we had never
seen before.

A man at the end of the street was stirring 
something in a huge pot over a wood stove.

I asked him, “What is this?”
Without looking up, he replied, “A pot.”
It was a fair answer,
but not satisfying. 

I asked, “What’s it for?”
Not looking up and with a dragging  
tiredness he said, “Comida, Comida.”
“For food, for food.”

Not wanting to bother him and 
appreciating his economy of words 
we withdrew our bikes to the curb
to watch a scene unfold. 

A young girl skipped by
handing the man
a soft ball-sized white onion;
chop, chop, chop and in the stew. 

Young and old came with
lima beans, diced tomatoes, radishes,
squash, potatoes, beets, carrots, peas, 
and a butcher brought cuts of beef. 

Everyone gave, returned, and partook of
what seemed to be new and all-embracing.

Laughter —
clinking of glasses, guitars and singing; 
the sound wafted through open verandas
where the solitary came together
and the sense of unity filled the air.

Connect with Michael Shoemaker on his website

Michael Shoemaker is a poet, writer, and photographer. His book “Rocky Mountain Reflections” which will be published by Poets’ Choice Publications in November 2023. His writing has appeared in Ancient Paths Literary Journal, Last Leaves Literary Magazine, Front Porch Review, Littoral Magazine, Clayjar Review, the Compass Literary Magazine, The Sunlight Press and elsewhere. His poems are in anthologies at Bindweed Anthology, Central Texas Writers Society, Poetica, Poetry Pacific, Pure Slush and Poets’ Choice. He lives in Magna, Utah with his wife and son where he enjoys looking out on the Great Salt Lake every day. He enjoys tennis, pickleball and hiking. Michael has been accepted as a Writer-in-Resident at the Wolffe Cottage in Fairhope, Alabama in 2024.