MP’s featured poet for June is Anni Macht Gibson. We are thrilled to present three of her wonderful works:
A
Ode to a Firefly
O wondrous insect of summer,
Edison’s envy, perhaps.
Your cheerful glow lit
steamy summer nights.
Gingerly, you crawled
over blades of grass
in a Hellman’s jar,
lid poked with holes
to let you breathe
our sultry July air.
In awe, we waited
for each fleeting pulse,
bright proof of life —
there, then not, until
Mama called “Bedtime!”
and we let you go
into the dusky sky,
the man in the moon
silent,
approving it all.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Promise
…to cremate me.
Whatever you do
don’t give the
undertaker
an extra dime.
Sing at the service.
Belt out my
favorite hymns —
“Go Tell It on the Mountain”
and “Amazing Grace” —
off key, if you must.
Wear a red hat festooned
with loud purple plumes.
No somber garments,
rent with anguished cries.
Cut a dashing figure, turn heads.
Celebrate my life: A wake,
with booze flowing,
stories and good food.
Serve the carrot cake
we had at our wedding.
If you feel sad,
fix popcorn and
read Alexander
and the Terrible Horrible
No Good Very Bad Day.
Scatter my ashes
by the lake,
where I wrote poems
you weep over
and essays that make you
laugh so hard you pee.
Then give me a headstone
in the family plot,
so generations hence
will wander by
and know I was here.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Using
You never said,
“I’ll take a shot
of alcoholism
on the rocks
with a swig of depression,”
when you made your
Faustian bargain.
Stumbling into
alleys of despair,
you travelled with
alcohol, reefer, and speed,
a crazy cocktail of isolation.
Your journey
wasted months–
a race toward
the perfect high.
You don’t remember
crossing the finish line.
Meanwhile, we prayed
your soul would be waiting
at baggage claim if you
ever came home again.
