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Sample Poems by Penelope Scambly Schott
Apologia
Whose fault is the evil
done by mistake?
The bread of the dead
waltzes with weevils
When the fungus
brings us
the crust of madness,
we must trust
each ghost of a hope
the hopes of ghosts
The Outside World
goes on:
Grace Kelly marries Prince Rainier
Viola visits Jean
the first gorilla is born in captivity
Viola moves into a retirement home
television is labeled a vast wasteland
my mother drives Viola to see Jean
my mother visits Jean alone
In the inside world
Jean asks for a plum lipstick
Jean asks for stick deodorant
Jean asks for a pass
to go to the commissary
for her necessaries
This is the joy in Jean's life:
to buy cigarettes to drink a soda
to see the male patients walking
and sometimes looking
at her
while Neil Armstrong walks on the moon
My mother visits Jean
on a terminal cancer ward
Jean dies unmemorialized
out of the eyes of men
and the outside world
that goes on and on
and on Out of my eyes
who neither knew nor mourned
Year after Jean, Viola Finally Dies
I go to the retirement community
where Viola has a three-room apartment
with all her beautiful furniture
I bring my little girl: she speaks her poems
and Viola consumes her
and shows her Jean’s drawings
I go to the assisted living unit
Viola has a studio apartment
with some of her furniture
I bring my little girl: she sings her songs
and Viola devours her
and shows her Jean’s letters
I go to the nursing home
Viola has a room
with a few of her pictures
I bring my little girl: she smiles her smile
and Viola gobbles it down
and shows her Jean’s photo
I go to the hospital
where Viola brings a bed
and I don’t bring my little girl
I go to the memorial
and speak the eulogy
to stranger
I never mention Jean
Resurrection Lily
Witness the night-blooming cereus
It opens for just one night
mountain people
have leaping dances
people who live on flat land
do line dances
desperate people
dance in circles
the heart is drumming
the lost are coming
Witness the resurrection
lily
After the leaves die back
a stalk rises from the earth
After the stalk rises
we all rise
to bring her back
into full flower
into full chance
so that all who are damaged
so that all who are lost
will return