Top: Monique Gagnon German (Feathers from Yay Images)
We Poetry Friday regulars are used to being moved, amused, or challenged by poems we come across online. Have you ever stumbled upon a poem that takes you out of blog surfing mode, out of whatever you’re also thinking about, and steals you into itself? I’d like to share a poem that had such an effect on me, and then I’ll tell you about the poet and the PF connections that led me to it!
Down
I don’t see it until I rise, a feather
on the chair across from mine
as if a tiny ashen bird
landed while I was gone
to other landscapes in my thoughts
and stayed just long enough
to leave evidence of his visit,
a small memento of flight
before lifting back into sky,
the tiniest quill
which might write
so many notes to you now,
each one fluttering down
confetti-style, beneath this sturdy
layer of cloud to ask you how
you are in such minuscule script
you might mistakenly think each slip
of paper is just a blank
prompting you further
to think of stories unwritten,
novels unread or the way
even the newest words
can dissipate
on the jet streams
of surrounding phrases and refrains
but maybe, by some fluke
of free association, you’ll think
of the lightness of paper instead,
how it carries its freight of words
as medium, impartial
to both statement
and intent, as if the words,
were a mere flock of birds
that caw, crow, peep,
whistle, chirp, and sing
but always end the performance
the same way: a ruffle of feathers,
a preening beak, the whisk of purpose,
the air of flapping wings.
Copyright ©2012 Monique Gagnon German
Maybe now you’ve fallen in love with it, too! How did I find it? The ever-amazing Tabatha Yeatts sent an email to Linda Baie, and myself, remembering that we had each posted about St. Francis before. (This was a couple days before the world had a new Pope by that name, by the way!) Tabatha gave us a link to a lovely post about the Peace Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi,, including a beautiful musical portrayal sung by Sarah McLachlan. As I was clicking some other links she provided, I came across this issue of a wonderful journal, Assisi, an “An Online Journal of Arts & Letters” published by St. Francis College, Brooklyn, NY. That’s where I found Monique’s poem! In thanking Tabatha for the link, she told me she had learned of the journal from our own Matt Forest Esenwine, whose poetry has appeared in the journal as well.
I contacted Monique to seek permission to share her poem. She kindly obliged. In addition to writing delicious poetry, she’s a busy mom of two young children and married to a Marine who is also a writer. Her poetry has appeared in the anthology, "e, the Emily Dickinson Award Anthology Best Poems of 2001," and in journals such as Ellipsis, California Quarterly, Kalliope, The Pinehurst Review, The Bear Deluxe, High Grade, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Calyx, The Ledge, Rosebud, Assissi, The Sierra Nevada Review, Xenith, The Innisfree Poetry Journal and Atticus Review . This year, her poems are forthcoming in Canary and Tampa Review.
Monique has a B.A. in English Literature from Northeastern University and an M.A. in English from Northern Arizona University. She’s lived all over the US and worked in technical publications for many years. You can learn more about Monique and read more of her poetry at her website.
Another fun find? She’s a copy editor for Ragazine, “The On-Line Magazine of Art, Information & Entertainment” – You’ll want to check it out, too!
Speaking of fun, don’t forget to check in on March Madness Poetry 2013 at Think Kid, Think . I had the pleasure of sparring with the aforementioned Matt in Round One, and I was bested by the talented Gotta Book has the Roundup! (At time of posting, this link is being persnickity. Google Greg Pincus if it's not cooperating!)