Poetry
If good poets have an ear for the music of words, I’ve long known I’ll never be a good one. However, starting in a college creative writing course I did experiment with poems and discovered I liked the compressed communications and the challenge of putting real life incidents alongside suggestive ideas. Below are five groups of poems that I still enjoy.
A Poem Exchange with my Grandson Zephyr
In 2008, when he was 6 years old, my grandson, Zephyr Gilmore, wrote this poem and read it to me by video. In response, I wrote a poem back to him. Please enjoy our exchange below.
UP AND DOWN
by Zephyr Gilmore
UP AND DOWN
by Harry Strachan
1. Yoga
Arms held high,
My rotator cuff screams,
“Put me down!”
Arms stretching down,
My rusty back squeaks,
“Where are those shins?”
2. Zephyr
Through an open tooth he lisps,
“Grampa Harry, listen to my poem:
‘I go up, up, up.
I go down, down, down.
Twirling up, twirling down.
The end.’”
His hair is a nest of reddish curls,
His bright hazel eyes seek mine.
“That’s wonderful!” I beam,
“I like the twirling, twirling.
Yes, it is up and down.”
3. Memories
Down in the marsh between river and sea
I recognize the brown and yellow leaf
Floating above, jarred now and again
By spotted fish seeking a morsel.
I am no longer clear, aged a tannic brown.
Up in my stream home eons ago
I asked about the yellow shells floating by,
Watched for hours on end
Wiggling tadpoles turn into tiny frogs.
Fresh from the spring, I was clear as light.
Between, in the rapids I twirled up as spray,
Twirled down a hidden chute to smash
Into turbines almost too heavy to move,
Developed muscles strong enough to carry
The gray steel barges from mill to city.
Now I am allowed for a short while
To rest still in these marshes
And think about the ocean that will swallow me.
Will I remember the tadpoles, the yellow leaf,
The twirling up and twirling down?
Poem Collections
2010-20 Five Snapshot Poems.
Incidents that captured my attention often with a meaningful message.
(8 pp)
2010-20 Five Poems of Aging.
Incidents in life which forced me to face the challenges of aging and death.
(7 pp)
2010-20 Five Poems with a Spiritual Slant.
Some experiences linked to spiritual reflections.
(7 pp)
2008 Boston Radiation Poetry.
Five poems from a poetry workshop taken during my medical sabbatical for prostate cancer.
(7 pp)
1963 Two College Poems.
The best poems from my college creative writing efforts.
(2 pp)