Four Poems

 

by Jacqueline Dee Parker

 

 

 

 

“Warblings At Eve”

 

 

Warblings at Eve, occasional use

of fingers—the pattern under being

in practical terms seductive

as a mountain stream

seeking consolation, the professor loves

in his way, praising brilliant

occasional use of fingers,

bravura’s surge of being—

 

Remember the fragrance of linden trees?

no longer applicable, lessons,

peculiar notes merging

in practical terms, a pattern—long,

long ago, fingers occasionally

made Eve’s body warble.

 

 

 

 

WHILE

 

 

A carnival of spirits, pale straws afloat in ginger boots,

men in stripes of plaid, women unraveling

acres of tulle and organza.  Where are the children?

So long! the goose cried, ruffling its back

feathers moving like water, there’s simply no time

at this hour to mourn losses like responsibility.

 

 

 

 

MUSE 

 

 

This darling’s long gone,

off crocheting,

listening to a symphony,

a symposium of snowflakes

livening a flat grey sky.

You stir at her stove,

a mounting ache of cotton

singed with cookstains

and pat recipes

your apron pockets sag.

 

 

 

 

THE NEW YEAR

 

 

You’ll begin again, anew,

after all is said and done,

the bobbing adam’s apple, swelled breast,

         wrists pulsing arias or don’ts—

supper plates stacked by the sink, drinks left

         bereft of ice or fingertips—

the party will have descended to the sofa

         transfixed by some eclipse,

a wick soaked in paraffin,

         a board game’s icon

                  four squares from finish,

and legs and arms will again fold

         into one another

                  as in prayer—

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jacqueline Dee Parker is the recipient of a 2007 Artist Fellowship from the Louisiana State Division of the Arts.  Her poems have appeared in Atlanta Review, The Southern Review, Chelsea and American Diaspora: Poetry of Exile, among others, and she’s been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.  Her visual work resides in numerous private and corporate collections and was featured in the 2010 Studio Visit, a juried artist book published by Open Studios Press.  She is online at jacquelinedeeparker.com.