Tag Archives: Leslie Schultz photography

Eclipse Special Reprint: “Day Star” (Poem)

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I am just about to mosey out to the front porch with Tim, long lens camera & tripod (thanks, Karla!) and Celestron eclipse-viewing glasses. Who knows? Perhaps the clouds will stay parted long enough to see something.

Meanwhile, I thought I would share again this poem, composed during National Poetry Writing Month 2016. It is part of new book manuscript, Cloud Song, that will be forth-coming next March from Kelsay Books. More on that nearer the Vernal Equinox!

May your day be a truly stellar one, whatever you are doing, wherever you are!

Leslie

DAY STAR

      for Jan Rider Newman

Here in the early dark, waiting
for the sun to travel again
over the curve of the earth,
its daily round,
and hearing birdsong,
I understand: the whole world
waits, as we did.

I think of traveling to your house,
so long ago, visiting.
Our garden chairs set beside
your red sub-tropical blooms,
the box of old negatives
at our feet, tea-dark strips of film
we layered into visors.

Laughing, we looked boldly
into the doubled dark
of that solar eclipse,
waiting,
certain as songbirds,
for the sun,
its radiant return.

Leslie Schultz

 

 

 

 

News Flash! THE ORCHARDS Has Published Poems by Sally Nacker and by Me

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I am so happy to share the news that one of my favorite publications, The Orchards Poetry Journal, has just published its third issue, and it includes three of my own poems: “The Widow Dreams of Sweet Breezes;” a sonnet, “Transportation;” and a villanelle, “To a Former Friend Whose Affections Are Withdrawn.”

Making this publication even more of a pleasure to me is that my friend, Sally Nacker, also has two lovely poems in this issue: “Robins” and “Night Snow.” (And our contributor notes are next to each other.) Regular readers will recall posts on Sally’s collection of poems, Vireo, and on her scholarship on the work of Amy Lowell.

I took the images here on recent trips to one of my favorite museums. These apple blossoms, offering up the most delicate and slightly spicy fragrance, were photographed in the courtyard of the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis. They seemed to me an appropriate complement to the spirit of The Orchards.

You can enjoy this new issue of The Orchards online now,  including not only an interesting group of poems but an interview with their first featured poet, Siham Karami. And you can also look at the first two issues of this fine publication. After all, what is more delightful than a lovely day in June, unless it is a fine June day with the music of a new poem!

Happy Reading!       Leslie

 

April 30, 2017 Poem: “Arrival”

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Arrival
In memoriam Sandra Petrek

It is mete and fit for journeys to end;
for the train to pull into the station,
for all tired travelers to disembark.

Let us imagine them gathering now
in a fine hotel, mere steps from the tracks,
where they can stop, unknot the tiredness

of the body, the fatigue of the mind,
rest for a moment alone. Soon, they shall
join those waiting, who traveled before them,

in the glittering dining room. Candles
will be lit, and glasses lifted in joy.
Reunion will suffuse their hearts like wine

filling a glass to the brim and beyond,
washing away even the memory
of pain. But for now, just for a moment,

let us imagine them pausing as they reach
final clarity, still content to listen
to us, to music we make from their names.

Leslie Schultz

For me, this has been an intense month, and the daily task of the poem steadied me.

My heartfelt thanks to all of you who were there for me this past April as readers.                             You know who you are!                                                                                                   Your daily presence cheered me on each day.

                In gratitude, Leslie