HomePlace: short poems written in 3 different groups

 by some members of the Tuesday Morning Writing Circle

Buffalo, New York
our home
a liberal haven
    - Gabrielle Vehar

Buffalo, New York
my wonderful father —
a snowplowin' machine
    - Gabrielle Vehar

Buffalo, New York
sailing on the lake
before it became polluted
    - Gabrielle Vehar

Newark, New York
not Newark, New Jersey
misdirected mail until zipcodes
    - Kim Falstick

Homer
large Victorian houses on main street
rural poverty too
    - Lottie Sweeney

Homer
my backyard
where the willow tree once stood
    - Lottie Sweeney

Homer
frog pond farm
scrap metal sculptures
Tim Burton would admire
    - Lottie Sweeney

Greensburg, Kansas
main tourist attraction:
the world's largest hand-dug well
    - Marty Blue Waters

Greensburg, Kansas
the town redistributed into other counties —
a big honcho tornado
    -Marty Blue Waters

Greensburg, Kansas
no longer feels like home
without the old landmarks
    - Marty Blue Waters

Ithaca
the House of Shalimar —
one-stop shopping for
turquoise jewelry, rolling papers,
gauze shirts, and indian bedspreads
    - Paula Culver

Ithaca
i go into mourning
David Bowie cancels his concert
my sister and i walk — procession style —
down the commons
our black dresses dragging
black veils covering our faces
    - Paula Culver

Ithaca
i come home to myself
after all these years
    - Paula Culver

Pennsylvania farm
sledding down the hill
on the manure shovel
    - Sue Norvell

Pennsylvania farm
on my belly inspecting clover
aha – four leaves!
    - Sue Norvell

Pennsylvania farm
she plants a riot of zinnias
he sees only greys — color blind
    - Sue Norvell

Highland Park, New Jersey
parents play alongside their kids
in front of the houses
    - Sue Perlgut

Highland Park, New Jersey
we kids have our own world
building houses and stores in vacant lots
    - Sue Perlgut

Highland Park, New Jersey
i'm sure there was a high school cheer
but i don't remember it
    - Sue Perlgut

the Bronx
some girls get princess phones
i do not
    - Zee Zahava

the Bronx
the answer is always no
i'll never get to wear nylon stockings
    - Zee Zahava

the Bronx
i discover that olives
make excellent finger puppets
    - Zee Zahava

===

by some members of the Wednesday Morning Writing Circle


Denver
High Holy Days in the Rockies
mom says there we were closer to God
    - Alison Taren

Denver
I always knew which way was west
here, I'm always lost
    - Alison Taren

Denver
new math taught in public schools
now I need a calculator
    - Alison Taren

Cayutaville, New York
biking after dark
I don't wear a helmet
    - Caroline Gates-Lupton

Cayutaville, New York
convertibles zoom by
too many to be a coincidence
    - Caroline Gates-Lupton

Cayutaville, New York
empty playroom
now full of memories and trinkets
    - Caroline Gates-Lupton

Yorktown Heights
walking to the orthodontist
avoiding the boys on the corner
    - Christine Sanchirico

Yorktown Heights
secret shortcut through the woods
everyone knew where it was
    - Christine Sanchirico

Yorktown Heights
front lawns manicured and tidy
I plant corn
    - Christine Sanchirico

Cleveland
worst winter blizzard in decades
i can't breathe when i walk
    - Elizabeth Burns

Cleveland
my first visit to a deli
salami on rye
    - Elizabeth Burns

Cleveland
riding the rapid transit on Saturdays
to the West Side Market
    - Elizabeth Burns

Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
stand at the rear of the ferry
white foam swirling
    - Fran Helmstadter

Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
along Shore Road
we bicycled to Coney Island
    - Fran Helmstadter

Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
Norwegian bakery on Saturdays
deep breaths of rich crumb cake
    -Fran Helmstadter

the river
the call of loons, coyotes, a farmer's cow
I wake to the sound of power tools
    - Hilary Fraser

the river
seventeen rows of clouds
stretch to the horizon
    - Hilary Fraser

the river
looking over my toes in bed
I see Canada
    - Hilary Fraser

Queens, New York
no car
walk to the bus then the subway
    - Madeleine Cohen Oakley

Queens, New York
our neighbor, a theater critic
excited after seeing "My Fair Lady"
    - Madeleine Cohen Oakley

Queens, New York
my brother and I share
black and white malteds
at the corner drug store
25 cents
    - Madeleine Cohen Oakley

West Newbury, Vermont
the old cemetery
sad little children's graves
    - Mary Louise Church

West Newbury, Vermont
the general store
Lawrence Tyler's wandering hands
    - Mary Louise Church

West Newbury, Vermont
the Tyler farm
the huge white bull
    - Mary Louise Church

West Hempstead, Long Island
looking out the kitchen window
mom bathes me in the sink
    - Rainbow Crow

West Hempstead, Long Island
smoking in the ravine with friends
accidentally burning down the driving range
    - Rainbow Crow

West Hempstead, Long Island
destroying my brand new bike
demolition derby
    - Rainbow Crow

Fargo
seven tornadoes
me, safe in her womb
    - Ross Haarstad

Fargo
train whistles at night
rumbling track lullaby
    - Ross Haarstad

Fargo
the Red River
is muddy green
    - Ross Haarstad


Silver Lake
the crooked tree in the yard
Grandma told us to encourage it
    - Susanna Drbal

Silver Lake
swans in the pen
buckets of rotting lettuce
    - Susanna Drbal

Silver Lake
tipping the sailboat
stuck on a sandbar
    - Susanna Drbal

the Bronx
men place bets in the candy store
off limits to children
    - Zee Zahava

the Bronx
my younger sister, my mother, and i
identical dresses
a woman on the subway asks
if we are triplets
    - Zee Zahava

the Bronx
my father mistakes the Patty Play Pal doll
for my sister . . .
excuse me darling he says
after bumping into it
    - Zee Zahava


==

by some members of the Thursday Morning Writing Circle

New Jersey
still rural and fresh
the woods are my home
    - Annie Wexler

New Jersey
I am 10
young men go off to Korea
    - Annie Wexler

New Jersey
"don't go to the pool"
polio panic haunts my mother
    - Annie Wexler

Barrie, Ontario
the smell of pancakes in an electric frying pan
I eat mine with lemon and sugar
    - Barbara Cartwright

Barrie, Ontario
doing the dishes with my mother
explaining the poetry of Simon & Garfunkel
    - Barbara Cartwright

Barrie, Ontario
listening to Brahms with earphones
my mind traveling far beyond our living room
    - Barbara Cartwright

Long Beach, Long Island
strolled on the boardwalk every day
ocean singing in my infant ears
    - Mara Alper

Valley Stream, Long Island
the grass grows too tall one summer
we frolic like leopards
    - Mara Alper

Valley Stream, Long Island
she is mad at us, threatens with the belt
but never uses it, never ever
    - Mara Alper

Nyack, New York
looking for hawks migrating south
over the Hudson
    - Michael Shaff

Nyack, New York
my first job, mowing grass at a state park
I run over a copperhead snake
    - Michael Shaff

Etna, New York
the duck pond
bullets fly overhead
    - Michael Shaff

Johnson City
at 12 we hang out at the mall
at 17 we work there
    - Stacey Murphy

Johnson City
no one questions Columbus Day
on the way to the parade
    - Stacey Murphy

Choconut Center
my mom in a witch costume
scaring trick-or-treaters home
    - Stacey Murphy

Knapp Creek
Bobbie Lawson and I compete
to be the best at softball
    - Sue Crowley

Knapp Creek
winter, my body numb
I stand over the heat grate as mom peels away wet clothes
    - Sue Crowley

San Diego
dad lifts me to his shoulders
we march into the high waves
    - Sue Crowley

Denton, Texas
June bugs buzz and float
upside down in the yellow porch light
    - Susan Lesser

Denton, Texas
garden roses bloom
father stoops to smell their perfume
    - Susan Lesser

Denton, Texas
mother gazes out at the distant horizon
she misses Canada
    - Susan Lesser

Flushing, Queens
mostly I stayed inside
dreaming of other places
    - Yvonne Fisher

Flushing, Queens
the painting of the Arc De Triomphe
in our shabby living room
    - Yvonne Fisher

Flushing, Queens
we went to the movies
the ceiling filled with stars
    - Yvonne Fisher

the Bronx
that bad man in the button store
flirts with my mother
    - Zee Zahava

the Bronx
after the blizzard
men on our block take turns with the shovel
    - Zee Zahava

the Bronx
dad grows a beard
i stop kissing him
    - Zee Zahava