BARB ON HER BIRTHDAY (AT 90)

 

BARB ON HER BIRTHDAY, (AT 90)

birthing us with her song.

Barb on the bell tree,

Barb on piano.

Barb at Ponderosa,

one of the Pine Trees

where Barb gives the word.

Barb waving, no applause--

even when we can’t

help ourselves. But,

Barb! Barb in the pew,

part of our song, too.

We know Barb

in the classroom, teaching

our children, loving,

no nonsense, Barb.

Christ’s presence with us,

completely Christ’s Barb,

and with the Word,

always Christ’s barb,

sharp, yet gentle, this Barb.

Jim Bodeen

Love from us--

Jim and Karen

July 2024

IT DEPENDS ON THE GEOLOGIST

IT DEPENDS ON THE GEOLOGIST

Dead ice, Kate says.

Dead ice?

It’s not moving.

It’s only called

a glacier if it’s moving.

Is that calving then,

those fallen ones?

Jim Bodeen

24 July 2024

THE ODD VOCATION OF A FOLLOWER

 THE ODD VOCATION OF A FOLLOWER

Blind Bartimaeus

Almost eleven pm

When vision arrives

Void of all content

Yesterday is left behind

For a way of life

Jim Bodeen

21 July 2024

SATURDAY MORNING MID-JULY

 

SATURDAY MORNING, MID-JULY

Late start, and back

from half-mile walk

and it’s hot quick

slice of melon

in my mouth

screen door behind me

when Sammie calls

Gpa do you have any eggs

I’m in the middle

of making waffles

How many do you need

Two

Are you

coming to get them

Yes

I tell this to Karen just

like this when

she comes out

to the porch with

her coffee and two

biscottis adding

I didn’t say

the grocery store

is closer than

Gpa’s

Jim Bodeen

13 July 2024

MOUNTAIN REPORT

 

MOUNTAIN REPORT

                for Pastor Phil, Pastor Audrey, Doctor Karen, Physic’s daughter Gretchen,

                for walker Myron, 83, on the trail to the Fire Lookout, who asked the question

                        Unless the ecstasy be general.

                                Doctor William Carlos Williams

                                from The Mind’s Games

I belong to the North Dakota diaspora

of the 1950s--

        but we

were thrown out

        before

it all began--

and before the oil

            What is this diaspora?

Poets, pastors, physicians,

the physics student

the one

            who

    asks 

The poets      a feckless bunch

The pastors   a feeble bunch

            And then 

            others

            on this mountain, 

            walking

Jim Bodeen

10-12 July 2024

AND SHE COMES TO SIT WITH ME CARRYING TOAST AND ORANGE JUICE

 

AND SHE COMES TO SIT WITH ME

CARRYING TOAST AND ORANGE JUICE

Back and forth cradling

bound books, changing shade

trees as sun moves

through the garden

our granddaughter comes

by early returning her grandmother’s

forgotten hat after

independence day finds

me eating cherries

spitting seeds in a cup drinking

iced coffee far from

last night’s fireworks

her grandma smiles

beneath her hat

I’m reading poems

under the birch tree

Jim Bodeen

5 July 2024

HONOR THE JURORS

 

HONOR THE JURORS

         "For some reason everything about him was white: his 

            new birch-bark shoes had not had time to grow dark..."

               --On Bachus Iron Belly, Doctor Zhivago

        Angels in China! Can’t you hear I’m talking to you?

            Old man, Doctor Zhivago

No jury duty today.

Walk the half-mile block.

Turn fountain on.

The tiniest bugs and spiders

are attracted to the white pages

of a book. Whether it’s morning

or afternoon, sitting under

trees in the garden, a small

spider will catch my eye,

walking its many steps,

drawing my attention

away from words

towards ink and the peculiar

architecture of letters.

The tiny spider is only

interested in the light.

It cannot be otherwise.

Jim Bodeen

1-2 July 2024