The Moon by Nancy Schatz Alton I want to show you the moon on the way to the ice-skating rink— a day-away from full my daughter (next to me) laughing at my funny additions to the song the clouds adorning the sky the moon—a feast for our eyes a cliché—the easiest way to say it. […]
Category: Poetry
December 21
December 21 By Nancy Schatz Alton The whole world is you/ Yet you keep thinking/ there is something else.-Hsueh-Feng Or that I should be someone else. But I am very much yourself— unloading the dishwasher as the next right thing then feeling how good it feels to be doing. Where are your hands? I’m […]
Loss
Incomprehensible News by Nancy Schatz Alton I hear the news from you & I’m broken open even as I’m the one who’s supposed to hold you sometimes we hold each other. I make tea & the dog sits with us we are us on the couch not […]
Tears
The bubbles in the seltzer water rise to the surface. I watch them rise & think about your tears. The way they rise & greet the orthodontist. She’s flustered by the water that leaks out of you again & again & again. How stress causes the salt to pour out of your body, slip onto […]
Late December
Late December by Nancy Schatz Alton The darkest week of the year descends. It holds me to my bed, tucked in & warm. The rain rushes the windows & warns of the storm. The winds land on the roof & scream for the heat. Why do we get up and out of bed? […]
Ways of Seeing
Ways of Seeing by Nancy Schatz Alton I understand the instinct to move away a one-way train ticket to an unseen city no one to compare myself to a new grid to learn bus routes & waterways coffee shops & croissants to see the mountains & realize I didn’t know the mountains would be […]
Open Heart
Open Heart by Nancy Schatz Alton I want to be a “flung-open door” just like the poem says capturing wind & tree sway bird song & seal dive. I’m the Sunday hike all week long no interruptions for the mundane all sea swell & evergreen scent no room for disappointment or dismay. […]
Want
Want by Nancy Schatz Alton All day I wrapped up want. Measured the wrapping paper against each book. Folding, turning, creasing each fold until the flatness was satisfying. Tape torn then placed and sealed. Ribbons cut, wound, tied & tightened. Packaged and handed to each waiting customer. The want in the giving is great: how […]
The Dance
The Dance by Nancy Schatz Alton I fold over myself into who I used to be: if we didn’t like ghosts, we wouldn’t become parents 6, 16, 22, 13, 8: our lives illuminated by those who come after. It’s a song we keep singing while forcefully dropping the storyline. I see me back […]
The Battle
The Battle by Nancy Schatz Alton All night my ears whistle, sing of the weather change The rain slowly arrives: we’re back in the grey. I can’t write eloquently about how I hoped to be better than myself. Stress-free, sliding into fancy clothes, off to the party, humming. No, I’m me. Tired with the weight […]