Wild Goose Poetry Review, No 34, Spring 2018
I STILL
Aye, No, No, Aye [I know, no I] King Richard II Act 4, Scene I
I still
lower the volume
on the car radio
when I pass a graveyard.
conclude the less
beautiful is
more intriguing.
bow my head
late in summer
to sunflowers.
reflect the different
times of day
the fall of light.
stop my car
pick up
dead animals
stroke what’s left,
whisper secret prayers.
let names fall
like soft rain
respecting stripped bark
from the trees.
mistake nature settings
for your dark back,
snowy breast, alert head
rippling – slightly chilling.
What’s its use or meaning?
idiotic sounds until
you get used to them
have patience toward
greater griefs than death,
old trees, the slim new moon.
believe in the legend
of memory, beyond learning
born from and with
the earth’s acceptance.
I know, no
I still
hear your footsteps
in my shadow.
Bio: Jenny Bates is a poet from the foothills of North Carolina and a member of Winston-Salem Writers. She has two published books, Opening Doors: an equilog of poetry about Donkeys (Lulu Publishing, Raleigh, NC) and Coyote with Coffee (Catbird on the Yadkin Press, Tobaccoville, NC). Both books reside in the collections of Libraries and Universities (Vanderbilt and the University of Vermont) in the United States and England. Her work has also been published in the literary magazine, Flying South. She is a consecutive contributing poet in the Winston-Salem Writers series Poetry in Plain Sight and in 2017 she was a top 10 Finalist in the Press 53 Single Poem Contest. Jenny’s newest work to be published will appear in the Fall Issue 2017 of laJoie, a quarterly publication of Animals’ Peace Garden, dedicated to promoting appreciation for all beings.
Wild Goose Poetry Review 