Charleston Currents – Palmetto Poem

Palmetto Poem

POEMS: Two works by Libby Bernardin

On Waking With Anxiety
By Libby Bernardin

The Pacific could belch up a tsunami
churned from the sea’s floor

a roar of sucking air pulls water back
as it meets shore—

you could be caught unaware
by this wave on its way

by Andy Brack · 09/04/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Palmetto Poem

PALMETTO POEM: IF, THEN

If two red-tailed hawks nest in your tree,
then call your sister and tell her to sell the Studebaker.

If one cloud breaks off and fights the current,
then name your daughter Linoleum.

by Special to Charleston Currents · 08/06/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Palmetto Poem

PALMETTO POEM, Miles: July 1963

By Rene Bufo Miles, special to Charleston Currents

It looked like ribbon my husband said
that long run of river
flattened out in the summer heat,
and at first, that’s what it felt like,
the shining water reflecting the sunlight
as they rafted in the early morning.

by Andy Brack · 07/09/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Palmetto Poem

POEM, Peters: The Ravenel Bridge

By Carol Peters, special to Charleston Currents

brings an instant gush of

happiness, this measure of wanting

to live, feeling joy surge at the sight of

a steel bridge, not a shape of nature

like a heron launching into flight

or a pelican sinking like a hull into a wave —

by Special to Charleston Currents · 06/04/2018 · 1 comment · Features, Palmetto Poem

POEM: Notes from the Quarterly Training Session

Barred tail feathers, round brown face.
I wish you would wake, wish you could.
In this sleeping posture – lying
on your back (unnatural, I know),
you appear relaxed.

by Palmetto Poem · 04/30/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Palmetto Poem

PALMETTO POEM, Mixon: Taking up Space

By Loren Mixon, special to Charleston Currents

Good for:

Wandering minds, i.e. I dreamt myself walking down the street to the thrift store, losing my life in old broaches and lessons in a woman’s fading memory before I found my body sitting in a pew—running from a catholic childhood.

by Palmetto Poem · 04/02/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Palmetto Poem

PALMETTO POEM: After the Blizzard, the Animals

By Alison Palmer, special to Charleston Currents

When a fox gets lost in the snow
it stands at attention, cold soldier
among the trees.

When I get lost in the snow
I bow down, ungracefully, saluting limbs
heavy with the white of morning.

by Palmetto Poem · 02/12/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Palmetto Poem

PALMETTO POEM: A Paltry Light

By Danielle DeTiberus, special to Charleston Currents

What if the sunset last night—the waves
impossibly pink and the sand’s sheen
a soft mirror to the darkening

lavender sky— belonged to me
so that I could give it all to you?
What if I could take a page, colder

by Palmetto Poem · 01/08/2018 · 1 comment · Features, Palmetto Poem

PALMETTO POEM: Two poems by Tim Conroy

A poem by Tim Conroy:

Is there a safe path
even with a light aimed
perfectly on the walkway
or upon the camellia bushes?
We imagine a world
with shadows everywhere,
lurking to steal lives….

by Palmetto Poem · 12/04/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Features, Palmetto Poem

PALMETTO POEM: It’s the Journey That Counts

Standing at the cockpit door, you told me,
Let’s go. Let’s sail beyond
How far beyond, I asked as we glided through the harbor.
Rusty boats at anchor, lines tightening like a noose.

Remember when the storm smacked us into a trough
and we jibed? You threw the tiller over and I
yanked at the mainsail.
I didn’t know it would be so hard….