The Paddock Review

• •

A Poem by Donna Emerson

Juliet Belle

 

 

I’ve lost the names of days

their assigned numbers

yet fluttering birds sing

 

in the chimney at dawn

winter clouds turn pink

at first and last light

 

I live in the rhythm of new life

baby hunger and satiation

perched on my heart

latched on my breast

                                                

keen observer of her world

she thrusts upon us, unblinking

soft rhymes of wonder and fresh hope

….

This poem is from the book Daphne Lifts Up by Donna Emerson (Finishing Line Press), and can be found at https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/daphne-lifts-up-by-donna-emerson/


Donna divides her time between Petaluma, California, and her family homestead near Ithaca, New York. Retired from teaching at Santa Rosa Jr. College and her clinical social work practice, her recent poetry publications include La PressaThe Paterson Literary Review, and WeberThe Contemporary West. Her chapbooks: This Water, 2007,  Body Rhymes, 2009, Wild Mercy, 2011, and Following Hay, 2013. Her poetry books are The Place of Our Meeting  (Finishing Line Press, 2018) and Beside the Well (Cherry Grove Collections. 2019). Visit Donna’s website: donnaemerson.com