“October morning”
Above the
shadows
orange light
glows on
droopy
hemlock
tips
Higher still
ducks flap
in erratic
formation
lit in gold
from below
against clear
white
blue
sky
Son snores
unselfconsciously
in the next room
door open
Last
night’s wind
makes a
final push
against
shedding
cedars
I sit
sigh
bask
grateful
for this
October
morning
that
needs
nothing
© Justice Schanfarber
www.WonderStruckPoems.com
“The blessing and the curse”
You can not help
but be both
a blessing
and a curse
to all those
you touch
especially the ones
you love
Your words flow
from the lover
you cherished
and wounded –
passing her lips
despite her best
efforts
You’re the foul
ghost on her breath
and the petals
of her flower
Your hurts
and triumphs
live on in
your children
your wives
your ripples
shape lives
like a butterfly
makes tsunamis
Turn it around
in every direction
and the same
is true
© Justice Schanfarber
www.WonderStruckPoems.com
“Two thoughts”
Walking home
two thoughts
in quick
succession
spun my
head
around
1. “Nothing I touch lasts” (boo-hoo)
2. “Nothing lasts” (haha!)
Then it started
to rain and
as I climbed
my driveway
the moon
shone and
when I looked
up at it
something on
the power line
was silhouetted
against the
moon and
I saw
it was
a fucking
owl –
totally still
and awesome
as anything –
and
my skin hasn’t
yet landed
back on
my bones
© Justice Schanfarber
www.WonderStruckPoems.com
“What we sow”
Everyone knows
we reap
what we
sow
except
when the
sparrows
find your
baby lettuces
the robin
eats your peas
or the landlord
sells your home
in June
And then
there are
the gifts –
who sowed
the salmon
the rain
the sudden insight
or spontaneous healing
Not me
We reap
what we
sow
Thank god
it isn’t
always
true
(Written for the Linnaea Harvest Festival 2012)
© Justice Schanfarber
www.WonderStruckPoems.com
“What the dawn said”
The dawn broke
and it told me
You don’t have
to be amazing
There’s no special
thing you need
to accomplish
in this life
No great potential
you must meet
What is the
opposite of
amazing? asked
the morning light
You needn’t be
that either
No matter what
your friends pretend
on facebook
Awesome
is a cheap game
for the uninitiated
Every leaf knows better
and so do you
Hang out with
me a while
chirped the robin
as she did
her thing
(you know –
the stuff robins
do without really
thinking about it)
It was very
uninspiring
nothing great about
it at all
Then the honeybees did
their dance
and someone got
very excited and
called it a
miracle
Not really said
one of the bees
I’m just doing
what feels right
and soon – in a week or two
I’ll be dead and my family
will push my body out onto the ground
But I insist
on the awesomeness
of being awesome!
boomed a voice
Haven’t you heard about crowdsourcing and 3-D printing?
What about TED talks
and following your passion
for making the world a better
and really interesting place?
And google goggles!
You can make a
big noise if you like
said the sunset
And the waves chuckled
good-naturedly
as they
rolled
in
and
out
© Justice Schanfarber
www.WonderStruckPoems.com
“We’re All Hungry Here”
Of course
you are hungry
We’re all
hungry here –
those of us
who are living
Our hunger
gnaws at
our gut
aches in
our chest
and throbs
in the hard
wet places
it catches
in our throat
when we practice
giving it a name
The impulse
to turn the
hunger inwards
cannibalizing
self
with cigarettes
and pornography –
cheeseburgers
and denial
Or to inflict
it outwards
turning the world
into an object
to be used
and discarded
is understandable
The third
way is to
wear your hunger
on your lips –
feel it on
your tongue
Let it drive
you deeper
into the
arms of
this world
Take the
leash off
and let
it play
in the
sun
© Justice Schanfarber
www.WonderStruckPoems.com
“Failure take me”
Oh failure –
take me in
your strong
hands
your loving
hands
work me like
clay, find
my shape, my
beauty
Breathe life into
me, real life,
the life that
opens me,
tender and
raw, to the
struggles of
brothers, to the
loneliness at the
end of my
street, to the
disappointment beyond
my disappointment
Oh failure –
cradle me and
then kick me
out, drop me
off, let me go
With your wounds
and your blessings
I can find
my way
© Justice Schanfarber
www.WonderStruckPoems.com
“Four thrushes, confirmed”
Four thrushes
flinging leaves
blown under
the two cedars
out front
Eating something
seeds perhaps
I get my birdbook
and binoculars
And confirm –
Four thrushes
flinging leaves
blown under
the two cedars
out front
Eating something
seeds perhaps
© Justice Schanfarber
www.WonderStruckPoems.com
“Isabel’s shoe”
So Isabel
I heard you
still talk
about the
time I knelt
at your feet
and tied
your shoe
even though
you’d been
tying your
own for a
few years
and were
perfectly
capable
Why so touched
Isabel?
Is it because
I did but
didn’t need
to?
Do me a
favour
Isabel
Do us all
a favour
make a habit
of choosing
those who
make you
feel like
that
© Justice Schanfarber
www.WonderStruckPoems.com