Poets writing about the natural world around us
By Barry Vitcov
The Poetry Corner has been launched, and you are invited to enjoy poems from local poets inspired and writing about Ashland and Southern Oregon in general. The Poetry Corner will publish poems on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month. Depending on their length, one or more poems may be published.
If you are interested in submitting original work, email your poems to Poetry Corner editor Barry Vitcov at haikubjv@gmail.com. There are only two restrictions on submissions: First, poems need to show a connection to Ashland and/or Southern Oregon. Your interpretation of that connection is fairly loose! Second, poems need to be aligned to the left margin. The publishing platform used by the Ashland.news has issues with the creative use of space! There are no length restrictions but try to keep your poems to less than 30 lines. Be sure to include the title of your poem, your name as you would like it to appear, the city or town in which you reside, and, if you wish, your preferred pronouns.
Here are two poems from Ashland poets:
The Mountains Still Exist Behind All This
By Laurel Winter, Ashland
Hummers divebomb each other over the mimosa.
(This tree ain’t big enough for the both of us.)
Pink and yellow flowers, exotic fern-like leaves.
A butterfly, drunk on nectar and beauty, flutters madly.
Mimosa is invasive.
The bamboo edging my yard tries to escape,
runners reaching for new territory.
There could be worse problems.
Laurel Winter grew up (to the extent that she did) in the mountains of Montana. She writes poetry, fiction of all lengths and plays of the 10-minute variety. She’s won a World Fantasy Award and a McKnight Artist Fellowship for children’s fiction and “egg horror poem,” won two awards and has earned more than $2,000 so far. (Two eggs were harmed in the making of this poem.) Her middle-grade novel, “Growing Wings,” was a finalist for a Mythopoeic Award. She likes to play games. She has twin sons, three grandchildren and a passion for reading and playing games.
Anthem
By Joanna Goff, Ashland
Today I’m speaking for yellow-scented chamomile buds
I balance earthly weight on
generous spring-full softness
tangled mound of green bold-mess
herbal squeaking and balm giggling near the creek
please step gently on her carpet of promising new buttons
At this time, I know a season of still-winter
has his claim to the hills above
our town’s snow dusted timber
keeps watch on pitched slopes
in holy coldhearted ignorance
of the rave of color below
holiday pastels and deeper brighter vanities
carried along in birdsong crying here, quick, look!
I want to ask the chamomile more of the mysteries
under plants feet and down inside her dark dirt place of birth
I wonder how intention is wrought below
in seed coat, endosperm, then radicle
the first impulse to push downward
and how are things with fungi, larvae, roots
and tasty decay that feeds these weeks of moist fertility
Chamomile, in your name I praise this day
the faithfulness of your seed bursting embryos underfoot
stretching now to lap up sweet sun
and soon with daisy like flowers
to melt our voices in summer song
Joanna Goff is a theater director, teacher and actor with almost five decades of experience all
over the West Coast and Midwest. After getting a start at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in
the 1970s as an actor, dancer and Magician’s Assistant to Harry Anderson, she eventually
earned her MFA in Acting from the University of Minnesota and has since enjoyed many
subsequent adventures exploring new plays and classics. Joanna discovered a love for poetry-
writing during our recent lockdown years and continues to relish playing with language. She’s
inspired by the beauty of our world, the mysteries of living and by all the incredible artists of
the Rogue Valley, where she was raised.
To submit poems, send to Barry Vitcov at haikubjv@gmail.com
Dec. 16: Corrected submission email address.
