Written by some members of the Thursday Morning Writing Circle on October 1, during the last few moments of our gathering
Leah Grady Sayvetz
fall is when leaves come down
I think that's called onemonopea
but I don't think I spelled that correctly
now I'm trying to think back to English 103
where I learned that word
today is Thursday but it feels like Tuesday
making me realize who needs days of the week anyway?
because the significance of a day is
what you do
not what they say it's called
sitting on the break or work bench, he's cutting fabric
he's making paper from old military uniforms
I sit down later on my break and am taken off guard
holding this inch-square stained camo with a seam and one button
I realize that the person who wore this died in war
Liz Burns
this morning I walked
my feet hurt
the creeks are fuller and flowing faster
there are some bigger puddles on the streets
but the ground has soaked up all the rain that fell
the small bulldozer plowed through the high grass
it cut through the brush on the hill and
moved a huge mound of earth
the landscapers cut down trees and then not content
with that, moved across the road and cut down more
Michael Schaff
five minutes — stop engines
five lines the limit
on a boat tying up
to an aquatic clock dock
only seconds left to summer
Sue Crowley
we slept in our car while crossing a desert
I was so small I fit on a shelf beneath the curved back window
one night I woke in the dark, overwhelmed by the endless infinity above me
aware at once of this tiny human speck amidst the unfathomable
not even my mother's gentle comforts could stop the tears
Susan Lesser
horse chestnuts nestle in the still green grass
only a few tomatoes left to pick
red leaves from the maple let go and dance to the ground
the gaudy zinnias bloom unaware
their time is passing
on the stove a pot of winter beef stew
in the oven a pie of apples, homemade crust
on the blue countertop a bowl of green salad crowned with a ring of feta cheese
in the basket rolls waiting for the butter dish
all of us home for dinner at last
Yvonne Fisher
at Yom Kippur services
the rabbi reminded us
that just beside joy
is sorrow and just
beside sorrow is joy
the Rinpoche said:
yes, you live in the heaven realm
now but it's better
to come back
down to earth
somebody hit my parked car
I jumped up ready to yell
the driver was a nice man
from Tibet in a big SUV
I calmed down instantly
Zee Zahava
34 years ago I met my sweetheart
she was wearing a pair of Frye boots
she spilled a cup of coffee in my lap
I thought she was adorable
last week she finally gave the boots away
yesterday I cooked up a big pot of apple sauce
for the first time ever
I left the peels on the apples, sprinkled in cinnamon
and used a large fork to mash things up
keeping it all lumpy the way my grandmother used to do
