Turning Point

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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.

The White Tree Blessing

A forest path swept clean to dirt,
wide steps with wide landings
that we navigate, each of us
in our own clothing, shoes

age guided balance, youth's light step,
many languages,
different words for caution
in each language.

The albino redwood
sometimes white or yellow
at the base of these cathedral trees
takes no notice,

absorbing
toxins from the ground
making pure
this sanctuary. Nature

colors this day
- white needled mystery
in place of god and country -
brings purity to man and wife.