My Balance Was Removed
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Speaking of my mother's death
on the phone late that night
the lady bug appeared
A creature I hadn't seen
since childhood -
maybe thirty years.
Still, she looked as striking;
eight divine black on red spots.
I gazed closely and counted.
She crawled gracefully
as I transferred her
from pen to paper
And then I saw something
something I never knew
and my balance was removed
Lady bugs can jump
and fly
to Heaven
10 Comments:
Thirty years w/o having seen a ladybug? Wow. City life.
Neil, THIS is really good. Simple and almost playful, conjuring up wonderful imagery.
GET. IT. PUBLISHED. SOMEWHERE. ELSE. BESIDES. YOUR. BLOG. PLEASE!!
Kishke, yep.
Pearl, thanks a lot, means a lot to me. Any idea of where to submit to? I googled poetry contest - and Lulu came up but I don't know that's what I want.
Neil, look into Poetica Magazine; it's a Jewish literary publication; I published in there about 4-5 years ago.
And maybe just look at any literary magazine/university-based journals are good too (some just narrow down when they accept and read poetry for publication).
Don't even look up contests and pay entry fees to have a committee read your poem/poems. I never do.
There's such a quality of sweetness (IMHO) to this poem!! Would the New Yorker even accept such a piece, I wonder...?
I really like most of the fiction the New Yorker prints, but I think that magazine and I have different tastes in poetry.
Thanks so much for your comments/help.
This is sweet in the best (not cloying) sense.
Thanks Anne.
Besides the true event described I was inspired by Zelda's poem -
http://rabbifleischmann.blogspot.com/2010/07/fine-light-of-my-peace.html
Hi Neil,
Sorry I haven't been around lately. I like this very much.
Miriam
On a related note, how sad not to see the ladybugs daily! They are in my garden, hanging out on the cucumber plants. I'm fond of them and of the dragonflies that visit every evening, helpfully eating up mosquitoes.
Hi Miriam, hope you're well. Whenever you read/comment I very much appreciate it.
Yes, I didn't even focus on that till Kishe and you pointed out the sad reality of not seeing nature naturally. I was shocked to see a ladybug, it was like seeing a ghost. Hmmm.
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