Sample Poems by Mary Pacifico
Curtis
Surmises
Somewhere I read that petting a dog in a
certain way calls up in them
the comfort of their mother's tongue just after their entry to this
world.
I run my hand in long, firm strokes from resting shoulder over wide rib
cage
to greyhound belly to muscled thigh - then repeat and again,
this time starting just
between her ears then neck to back to butt to thighs.
With each stroke, I see her
incongruities, like someone stuck together
pieces from different breeds - the too long tail, lab
ears that stand up
Doberman-straight for minutes before folding, racing-dog body
and square Pit jaw. She is very still on her side, eyes open, happy
without knowing
my thoughts, without knowing about her DNA test
results - primary breed Weimaraner, next
American bull terrier;
seemingly unaware of human wonderment and churning, seemingly
just here
to be licked by a mother dog and stroked by a human like me.
The Bride's Reverie
On the day when families and cultures gather
from near and far to celebrate, what is it to be given away?
What is it for a father to
walk a bride to another
man's side to care for, comfort, and provide
for the girl who
sprang from his own being?
And what is it then without the father
who fell before
his time - who is it to be? This bride,
his little girl, returns to echoes of skirl and keening,
still fresh and ringing through the caverns of her loss.
What would he say to her
before they step into view
about the joining of man and wife, hope and fulfillment,
past
and future and new family. Those words now
a whisper, in her dreams.
Long before
she will walk the aisle that is a forest floor,
pebbled path, dusty road, the slow considered way
that leads to her new life, she has pondered all this
and carries it
still
The Benu-bird Circles
Beside the
sparkling algae pond,
an ancient redwood canopy
filtered light and shade.
We
waited for our cue.
We waited as hushed celebrants
from corners of the globe
- Persians, Armenians, Uzbeks,
mixed origin Americans, Germans,
Ukrainians,
Chinese, -
Bahai, Jew, Muslim, Catholic,
Buddhist, skeptic, Christian,
- here
together.
In private thought we waited
when flew into our view a snowy
egret
- feather wisps curled by the breeze
twig legs stretched,
streamlining,
Flying low and circling so
we would see each feather ridge and
contour.