A photograph by Alazanto, Kevin Davis, our son
This photo was taken on November 15, 2009.
Dance of Life
by Ethel Mortenson Davis
The threatening trees
by day
turned at night
to dancers round a fire,
the moon so bright
it made a jar-like sky
clear and empty,
a dance of life
with turning hypnotism,
patterned movements,
rushing fire-sparks.
The trees bent,
turning with the fire-moon,
all moving
on the breath of the wind,
fire and dancers
united
into an upward-moving flame.
The moon danced.
The trees shined.
Filed under Ethel Mortenson Davis, Poetry
Sonnets 27 and 28
by Thomas Davis
27
His photograph was of a running boy,
the sunset red and orange, the spray of waves
afire with light, the boy suspended, brave
from being young, his crazy leap of joy
upon the lake-soaked dock a song to buoy
the spirit, calm a troubled heartbeat, stave
off nightmares, swear to dare to misbehave
in ways that shows that life’s a game, a toy.
He sat outside his cabin in the sun
and shyly let his mother see his art.
She looked amazed, as if the photo stunned
her sense of who her son was in his heart.
He listened to her praise, but looked chagrined,
as if her lavish praise was not for him.
28
Mosquitoes swarmed in visible gray clouds.
Inside the dusty parking lot he laughed
to see my face as I exclaimed out loud,
“Where is the spray? They’re making me half daft!”
“Ignore them, or your final epitaph
will read, here lies my Dad, whose mind unhinged
because mosquitoes worked their bloody craft
upon his face and made him wail and cringe.
Mosquitoes buzzed him to a lunatic’s mad fringe!
Forget they’re there,” he said. “The welps on welps
will scar your skin and let you go and binge
on campfire food or find a scout to help.”
He paused, “mosquitoes, once ignored,” he said.
“Sting skin, but let you keep your mind and head.”
Note: Sonnet 28 is a description of an experience at a boy scout camp near Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
Filed under Poetry, Thomas Davis
Ladder
by Ethel Mortenson Davis
The desert tarantula
ambles across
the roadways
and wide open lands
in late summer
when the monsoons
are done,
during the mating season.
Perhaps
they can show
us how to put
our ladders against
the sky
so we can climb
out of this place,
ladders made
of silk and that hang
on nothing, so
we can climb
out of our hole.
I get close
to one tarantula
but he gets
in his warrior stance,
ready to strike.
Filed under Ethel Mortenson Davis, Poetry
Sonnet 16
by Thomas Davis
He found the Internet; a shaman chanted
along connections in his nervous system.
Computer screens became a world enchanted
with who he was, his universal wisdom.
He wove design into the mysticism
of art enabled by an engineering
that danced like sunlight in a crystal prism
that set the mythos of our spirits soaring.
He took us on a visual journeying
as life fizzed, popped inside an endless mind
that questioned, questioned, focused on creating
a self that, like his art, swirled, scintillated, shined.
There’s courage in a heart that finds a place
to sing a hymn of individual grace.
Filed under Poetry, Thomas Davis
Hudson River from Overlook Mountain
by Alazanto, Kevin Davis, our son
Taken on November 1, 2008
Filed under Art, Photography
More Awards
Ethel and I have received so many award nominations at this point we can no longer keep up with all of them. We are so grateful to the poets and writers who have esteemed us enough to notice our, and our children’s and grandchildren’s, poetry, art, and photographs, in this way, and we want to acknowledge them and their work. In the great poetry schools the major method of instruction is criticism, but we have always believed the opposite is more important: That the creative impulse blossoms into a field of flowers best when the environment is supportive and filled with teaching that encourages the best in poets and artists. We want to build those who have noticed our work and encourage them in their own work, so here are those who have nominated us recently:
Dark Zone, who nominated us for a Versatile Blogger’s Award. Aslan is a poet and short story writer in the dark zone.
Written Words Never Die, who nominated us for a Liebster Blog Award. Eric’s short short fiction is worth a visit.
The Plaid Ant, who nominated us for another Liebster Blog Award. The Plaid Ant’s poetry is filled with joy, humor, and humanity.
Since we have won these awards before, we acknowledge those who have recently nominated us for them again.
Dragon, a drawing by William Bingen
This should have gone with the sestina, “Dragon Mages,” which is an earlier post. William is our grandson, and both Nana and Grandpa love this! Dragons yes!
Filed under Art
