Poet Elizabeth Alexander was interviewed on the NPR show “On Being” in 2014. In her interview, entitled, “Words That Shimmer,” Alexander talks about the role of poetry in society and in life. Poetry can be wisdom, it can be solace, it can be balm, it can be inspiration. And its power comes in its carefully constructed language and imagery. But on the other side, these words don’t have to be numerous. They can be brief, and in this brevity comes spontaneity- poems can be captured and created at any moment. Alexander says, “You can snatch time to make a poem…They are like grass and flowers coming up through the sidewalk cracks.”
As I have walked, biked, and hiked my way around Oregon, I have found myself stumbling upon many moving moments, the beauty emerging through cracks in the sidewalk. Over the years, I have hidden away these small words in the corners of my notebooks, saving them to be rediscovered and shared at another time. Though I love to explore topics in-depth, sometimes a lengthy essay isn’t the right setting. Sometimes just a few words are all that is necessary.
Thank you banebow.org!
So here are my blooms that have made their way through the cracks. Scroll through with previews here, or navigate from the list below:
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Treebeard
Adorn
Hibernate
Somersault
Carpet
Belay
Unfold
Premonition
Instructions
Winter Warmer
Mermaid
Bryophytes
Yawn
Timeline
Nurse Log
Sprites
Bounty
Sanctuary
Wy’east
Remember?
Salty Sunset
Acrobatics
In wait
After sunrise
Concrete Oasis
Hidden
Bunchberry
Hello, sun!
Prism
Coexist
Preview
Fleeting
Reptilian
Sprout
The Hive
Fiddlehead
The Urban Forest on Earth Day
Magnolia
Weathered
Emerge
Trillium
Ascent
Shhhh…
Feather Bed
The Artist
Cyclical
Mirror
At the close
Breath(e)
autumnal secrets
in the midst 