Endangered Pleasure, by Ellen Rowland
(after James Crews)*
Add this to my list of small ecstasies:
the way honey creams together
with butter on freshly baked bread,
the innocence of its warm alchemy
as churn, as rise, as breaking down
of simple sugar. I swear, I can taste
the tantra of the hive, the tending to
of queen by drone, the dripping cone,
workers’ legs impossibly laden with
thick pollen, deposited and darned.
This, from the buttercups and purslanes
most would have condemned to the curb
as bothersome weed. This from the common
dandelions we left to riot just for the bees.
An entire patch of golden suns now radiating
as endangered pleasure on my tongue.
From One Art Poetry, September, 2023.
*Read James Crews’ poem, More, shared in a previous issue
Poem Prompts inspired by Endangered Pleasure
create a poem inspired by the word TANTRA.
connect a color with taste, then elaborate on that emotion or experience.
Rowland repeats this to emphasize a moment. Write a poem with this, there, or here repeated throughout to direct the reader’s attention.
If you have recently published a poem, I’d be happy to share it here. Reach out so we can celebrate your work!
Epistemology IX, by Grant Clauser
Tonight’s campfire is mostly decorative,
something to conjure ghosts and hold back mosquitoes.
If bats twist overhead, I don’t see them.
If a large shadow comes down the mountain
to drink from the lake, it doesn’t ask permission.
What do I know about why nations crash
into each other with the regularity of rain?
Tonight in the woods I try for a kind of peace
that can watch smoke rise from kindling,
that talks back only to the voices in the heart.
From One Art Poetry, April, 2024.
Cool Resource for Poets ~
Want to learn more about the wonderful world of poetry?
Ellen Rowland and Grant Clauser, the poets shared in this issue, have offered workshops through the ONE ART POETRY COMMUNITY. Check out One Art’s UPCOMING WORKSHOPS to learn more.
September 6th, 13th, and 20th, 10:00-11:15 PST. $75 for three sessions.
For those of you who seek feedback and guidance toward publication. Limited to four poets. I intentionally keep this workshop affordable so that those who wish to join can. October & November workshops will also offered.
August 22nd, 10:00-11:00am PST. $10 per session.
Generate new writing with poem prompts in this small group. We meet once a month.
August 17th, 10:00-11:00 Pacific Time. Free.
Discover new nature poetry by published poets in a friendly group. If the event is sold out, contact me & I’ll send you the Zoom link.