The Poetry Marathon

Trapped

Trapped inside the 

Health care maze.

Spinning, confused,

Stumbling, dazed.

Biopsy ordered-

Labwork sent,

Referals, Appointments, 

Specialist went.

I feel hopeless,

Helpless, fazed,

Pinned down, trapped,

Angry! Crazed!

Out of network?

Not Covered? Copays?

Coinsurance? Deductibles?

Will my insurance pay?

Bette Low 2020

Searching for Enlightenment

It doesn’t seem like we are on the same path-

You do yoga.

I blast rock and roll.

You inhabit a balanced life,

Mine is in chaos.

You sit pranayama in matching yoga togs,

I’m in gritty work clothes and muddy boots.

But we are both looking for the infinite,

We both seek peace.

You may be serene by the sea,

Seeking calm with measured breaths

and looking for infinity on a pristine beach.

I’m rocking and roaring down the interstate

Purging the assholes from my head with raging rhythm

Submerging in the sound

My spiritual packed between my life’s commitments.

My music is shredding the drudgery,

Burning out the jerks

Windows rattling, blasting down the interstate

I am at peace.

Bette Low  2020

Stroll on sugar sand

Many voices, many tongues,

Children can unite us.

Bette Low 2020

One Sound Unites Us

Knots of families stroll on sugar sand

Snatches of their conversations float after

Spanish, French, Portuguese and Chinese.

But one sound is universal

The squeal of children in the surf

Laughing children will unites us.

Bette Low  2020

Grackle Gang

Iridescent grackle gang

Always in croaky conversation.

Strutting about eating bugs in the front field,

Causing an immediate ruckus at the neighbors’ cat,

Nesting together deep in the cedars

Quick to rise up and swarm a passing hawk-

Dive bombing all aerial predators

Mobbing the threat with a clamorous chorus.

Our flocks’ Early Warning System.

Bette Low  2020

 Couch commander

I know

You like to be in charge

You know how things should be done

You are free with  your thoughts

Your also like to have a comfortable spot to share your thoughts with others

You are the couch commander

I know 

You are used to being catered to

You are used to being served

You say we are all friends

But you are think of yourself as more

You think you are the queen bee

You are the couch commander

I know

You talk about equality and justice

About the marches you have attended

And universal human rights you believe in

Never looking at your own life

Never leaving your comfortable spot

Letting others make the coffee

Letting others get the lunch and clean it up

You are the couch commander

I know

You proclaim about social justice

But you never offer us the best spot

You are content to be served

We women of the hard chairs

We women who never  sit

Also need our place in the sun

We, who are always serving, always doing

While you proclaim about social justice

Your bottom firmly on the couch

Will claim our due from you, the couch commander

Bette Low 2020

Three AM writer-

Finds quiet in the world around

But quiet inside, too

Whose Place is it Anyways?

A wren wakes me up at five with her strident call

I see she has made a messy nest in my shed

and she is feeding nestlings in my market basket

I guess I could use a bag instead-

Whose place is it anyways? 

The monarchs have found the milkweed on the edge of the drive

I need to mow along there but

I see her perfect jewel box eggs on the leaves

I love to see butterflies dancing over the field

I guess I won’t mow there this summer

Whose place is it anyways?

I pull back the tarp to add to the winter’s woodpile

And find the chipmunks’ careful hoard

Imagine the labor of finding all these acorns?

I guess I can start a new woodpile nearby

Whose place is it anyways?

The ground hog has made a hole under the garden fence

She eats all the green beans, kale and brocholi in one night

I block up the hole and follow her trail to the burrow

I see her young creep out to eat clover

I guess they can keep the clover patch

Whose place is it anyways?

A deer has left her spotty fawn under my elderberry bush

I need to fix the hole in the fence there but

I am not sure how they both got in

The foal looks at me with huge watchful eyes

I guess I can put off the fencing for a while

Whose place is this anyways?

I am walking the dog down our woods road

She finds a pile of coyote poop 

I know my neighbors would be out here with a shotgun but

We walk here by day but leave it to them at night 

Whose place is it anyways?

The registry at the courthouse 

has a walls full of files of deeds

One names our farm and my name is listed there but

Whose place is it anyways?

Bette Low 2020

2020

I didn’t realize,

Wound up & weighted with worry

until an extended escape by bicycle

loose at last

I didn’t realize,

My brain blasted & bombarded by nightly news

until the power went off

peace at last 

I didn’t realize

Clenched and coiled against the cold

until curled up beside your back

warm at last

Bette Low  2020

Midnight

Haikus are your friend,

My baggy-eyed midnight writer.

Now go, and take a breath.

Bette Low 2020