Tag Archives: Ethel Mortenson Davis

How Could I Know?

by Ethel Mortenson Davis

It looks to me as though
you’ve been around, perhaps,
since time began—
and I have lived at least
as long.

Oh? Only that much time?

I’m sure there was no life
before for you or me.
How could I know your face
so well?

As well as some old rock
I’ve seen hang, clinging
to a mountain wall,

and I know what wave of brightness,
or of darkness, to expect there
waiting for me.

You step and make some rounded move.
I know beforehand which way to go.
How could I know? Unless. . .

You’ve been around, perhaps,
since time began.
I know I’ve lived at least as long.

5 Comments

Filed under Ethel Mortenson Davis, Poetry

Early Spring

a photograph by Ethel Mortenson Davis

Early Spring

3 Comments

Filed under Art, Photography

Better Place

by Ethel Mortenson Davis

Perhaps,
if we didn’t want
to go to a better place—
they said when he died
he went to a better place—
we would want to take care
of the earth
and other species.

Perhaps,
if we thought
of the earth
as our better place,
we would revere it–
the forest and animals
would be our cathedral.

This morning
the cornered possum
lay down and played dead
until the children and dog left.
Then she got up and ran away,

returning to her cherished life,
her better place.

9 Comments

Filed under Ethel Mortenson Davis, Poetry

Cosmic Fish

a pastel by Ethel Mortenson Davis

Cosmic Fish

Leave a comment

Filed under Art, Art by Ethel Mortenson Davis, Ethel Mortenson Davis

Cosmic Bird

a pastel by Ethel Mortenson Davis

Cosmic Bird

9 Comments

Filed under Art, Art by Ethel Mortenson Davis, Ethel Mortenson Davis

Lake Michigan Ice

a photograph by Ethel Mortenson Davis

Lake Michigan Ice

8 Comments

Filed under Art, Photography

Aware

by Ethel Mortenson Davis

One doesn’t unravel
when branches strain
with too much snow,
or the cold
makes the ground
sound hollow—
an empty sound.

One doesn’t unravel,
but instead the cold
wakes us up—
sharpens us
like the jagged ice
along the Bay–

Crying out to us,
“Stay back,
“Stay aware!”

5 Comments

Filed under Ethel Mortenson Davis, Poetry

Kinship

by Ethel Mortenson Davis

I’ve come again
to watch your woods,
snow up to my thighs,
winds flying
across the tops of trees—
like when I was little.

On windy days
I would run
into the woods
and listen to the wind
roaring across the tops
of trees,

but stillness would
be beneath.

I think of trees
as family,
kin,
those that are
always there,
steel cores,
centurions
that guard us
from all the clamor
at the top,

the quiet and stillness
beneath,

close family.

6 Comments

Filed under Ethel Mortenson Davis, Poetry

Sounds

a pastel by Ethel Mortenson Davis

Sounds

3 Comments

Filed under Art, Art by Ethel Mortenson Davis, Ethel Mortenson Davis

Good Morning!

a photograph by Ethel Mortenson Davis

Good Morning!

5 Comments

Filed under Art, Ethel Mortenson Davis, Photography