Friday, October 23, 2015

Rose Mary Boehm- Three Poems


A marriage of words
or how two become one

May two be joined together
and form a closed-compound word.
Don’t change the appearance.
Simply delete the space.

Beware of hyphens.
Don’t let them trick you
into believing they lessen
the strength of the partnership.

As some women prefer
hyphenated names,
some words feel more
comfortable with a little extra
space, some even prefer
open relationships. They
will still function as one.

Well-known, bright-red
airplanes are mentioned
in newspapers. Over all,
the institution is in tumult.
Let us show compound words
the respect they deserve.



The Jigger Variations

I
On the right track but not streamlined.
You were wiping imaginary sweat
from a brow permanently furrowed.
Should have resisted the temptation.
Marriage a metonym for failure.

II
Buried your head in my flesh,
a hungry beast that feeds on warm,
pulsing blood, prepared to loose
its life in return for sustenance.

III
You were warming your hands over an open fire
down by the embankment.
Your cup—measureless measure.
The night was cold, the fire uneasy.
Hubble bubble.

IV
Sails set. No doubting the direction.
Storms subsided.
A deep breath puts distance between
acute distress and foreboding.
Spray. Salt in my eyes.



Damage control

Four damaged dolls
and I lived in my house.
My mother knew, but
I failed to find my affliction.

There were five damaged
lovers in my life. I failed to see
how loving could have
cut them so deeply.

My children brought each
a piece of me into this world
and, in despair, changed into toads.

I often squat in the mud by the pond
learning a new way to speak
with my daughters.



Bio:
A German-born UK national, Rose Mary Boehm lives and works in Lima, Peru. Author of two novels and a full-length poetry collection (TANGENTS) published in 2011 in the UK, well over 100 of her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in a good two dozen US poetry reviews as well as some print anthologies, and Diane Lockward’s The Crafty Poet. She won third price in in the 2009 Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for Traditional Verse (US), was semi-finalist in the Naugatuck poetry contest 2012/13 and has been a finalist in several Goodreads poetry contests, winning it in October 2014; a new poetry collection is earmarked for publication in 2016 the US.



2 comments:

  1. Rose Mary,

    I really enjoyed these poems. I can especially relate to the poem, Damage Control. Thank you for these.

    DB Cox

    ReplyDelete
  2. I really enjoyed these poems. Well done!

    ReplyDelete