Saturday, February 14, 2004

The Wall

Maybe those who believe
A piece of your soul
Is stolen with each photograph taken
Are right

Reflecting back over the years,
Looking at her tortured face
In that static image,
I wonder. I hope not, for my sake.

Hard to contemplate so many stolen moments
Pieces of others’ lives captured
By my lenses, the films’ emulsion
Now sitting in dust covered albums, yellowed envelopes and crooked frames

She stood hunched over, frozen
Jaw clenched and hands knitted,
Holding or hugging herself
Against her chill that July.
Paralyzed by her private pain
Writ large there in public, on the Mall
Countless others had and have since
Faced their own demons
In that monument’s polished black marble
(I have seen them)

For twenty minutes or a little less
I watched her pilgrimage, her prayer
A stranger motionless that stopped me
That held my attention
And the camera’s gaze before me.
Me a voyeur, an intruder, an unwelcome confidant.

She stood too near the names
To turn away;
But her feet and legs
Couldn’t carry her slight frame forward
To touch the past
The walkway before her still,
I imagine, never to be breached.



=====
edited September 9, 2015
The Wall – v6
(editing original)
edited July 27, 2015
The Wall – v5
(editing original)
edited March 23, 2015
The Wall – v4
(editing originalagain)
edited November 11, 2014
The Wall – v3
edited May 28, 2014
The Wall – v2
posted February 14, 2004
The Wall
June 22, 2001
===
edited May 27, 2014
“In the Rain, in that Place – v3
edited May 26, 2014
“In the Rain, in that Place – v2”
Memorial Day
November 11, 2010
“In the Rain, in that Place”
Veteran’s Day 2010
and remembering being
at the Vietnam Memorial
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund
during the 10th anniversary
Veteran’s Day 1992
&
edited May 27, 2014
Left at the Wall – v3
Edited May 26, 2014
Left at the Wall – v2
Memorial Day
August 5, 2006 18:05
Left at the Wall
&
All of my Veteran’s Day poems
&
All of my Memorial Day poems






All of my poems, photographs, and videos are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for usage. See all 42,390+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Looking Closer

As I reached down
To unlock my canoe
From the tree,
I held onto a
Black birch sapling’s branch.

There, next to my hand,
Was the vacated shell,
The skin of the cicada,
The remains of the nymph,
Clutching the tender
Branch of the young tree.

A small fleeting instant
Captured by my eye
Even though it matched
The smooth black bark
Because I stopped,
Enjoyed the moment,
And looked closer.


-------------
edited December 28, 2015
Looking Closer – v2

posted February 14, 2004
written 6/18/2001 11:49am
Looking Closer


All of my poems and photographs are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for usage. See all 40,460+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

The Crash

Clenched knuckles
On my steering wheel
A red light above me
A black pickup -
A wall before me

No injuries
But totaled
Radiator fluid spilled
But new brakes
Kept me alive

Emptying the car –
Flashbacks of a decade before.
Of a fatal accident –
Blood and brains on the seat
Powerful smells of fluids,
The lifebloods of the Accord.

Broken cassette covers
In my car
A parallel to his.
Bent plates another
Memories burnt
Into my mind.


------ 
edited December 29, 2015
Demons – v2
edited December 29, 2015
Did You Hear Her Cry – v2
edited December 29, 2015
The Crash – v2
edited December 18, 2015
The Submariner – v2
&
edited December 17, 2015
Meticulous – v2
&
edited December 18, 2015
Adam Asked – v2
==========
edited October 22, 2015
Did you brace for impact – v2
edicted October 22, 2015
Mile Marker 19 – v8
(editing original)
edited October 5, 2015
Like the Venus Fly Trap – v9
(editing version 5)
&
edited October 3, 2015
Why on this day – v3
(editing original)
edited October 19, 2014
Why on this day – v2
July 1, 2014
Why on this day
“My Prayers Weekend!”
“Next Day Stretch”
draft a note to God
about a day when you struggled
with a big question
for June 29, 2014
read June 30, 2014
&
edited June 27, 2014
A vivid memory – v2
June 27, 2014
A vivid memory
Matthew 28:20 (NRSV)
Romans 8:31-39
Upper Room Daily Devotional
“In Dark Times”
by Don Greeley
about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
for June 26, 2014
read June 27, 2014
Upper Room Daily Devotional
for March and April 2014
&
edited August 15, 2015
Here it comes – v3
(editing version 2)
edited January 12, 2014
Here it comes – v2
January 12, 2014
Here it comes
January 12, 2014
I am not ready
(conversation by Dean McKenney about his
bad car accident 40 years ago)
January 12, 2014
an accounting to God
January 12, 2014
Honor their walk
Romans 14:10-12
Romans 14:1-12
Romans 14
Men’s Bible Study
led by Steve Curtis
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
January 12, 2014
&
edited August 4, 2015
Like the Venus Fly Trap – v8
(editing version 5)
edited May 9, 2015
Ten Years – v2
April 23, 2004
Ten Years
see also
-------
edited January 11, 2014
Mile Marker 19 – v7
(editing version 6)
Edited November 9, 2013
Mile Marker 19 – v6
(editing version 3)
-------
edited March 21, 2015
Like the Venus Fly Trap – v7
(editing version 5)
edited December 3, 2014
Like the Venus Fly Trap – v6
(editing version 3)
Edited November 9, 2013
“Like the Venus Fly Trap – v5”
Edited October 24, 2013
“Like the Venus Fly Trap – v4”
Edited October 11, 2013
“Like the Venus Fly Trap – v3”
Edited December 26, 2012
“Like the Venus Fly Trap – v2”
December 20, 2012
“Like the Venus Fly Trap”
edited February 11, 2014
“hiding in the ice – v9”
edited January 4, 2014
“hiding in the ice – v8”
(editing version 5)
Edited September 28, 2013
“hiding in the ice – v7”
 (editing version 3)
Edited September 28, 2013
“hiding in the ice – v6”
(editing version 2)
Edited September 25, 2013
“hiding in the ice – v5”
Edited August 2, 2013
“hiding in the ice – v4”
Edited December 26, 2012
“hiding in the ice – v3”
Edited December 21, 2012
“hiding in the ice – v2”
December 21, 2012
“hiding in the ice”
Edited December 26, 2012
“Animated / Evil – v2”
December 20, 2012
“Animated / Evil”
Edited December 26, 2012
“A latent danger – v3”
December 20, 2012
“A latent danger – v2”
“A latent danger”
Edited December 26, 2012
“Smiling in the freezing – v2”
December 20, 2012
“Smiling in the freezing”
Edited December 26, 2012
“A frozen trap – v2
December 20, 2012
“A frozen trap”
Edited December 26, 2012
“was the road innocent – v2”
December 21, 2012
“was the road innocent”
Edited December 26, 2012
“Did the ice know – v2”
December 20, 2012
“Did the ice know”
series of new poems
also about my father’s death,
after reviewing poem by Jacob Montgomery,
“Icy Lanes”,
(see more of his poems at:
and exchanging emails with him about that poem
and my father’s death
2/14/1991
&
Edited August 22, 2013
“eyes not shut – v2”
August 22, 2013
“eyes not shut”
a poem in conjured after reading poem
TATTOOS AND ATTITUDE”
by Chip Bergeron
&
Edited September 20, 2012
new poem, “Did you brace for impact”
&
Edited September 20, 2012
“Mile Marker 19 – v5”
&
Edited September 12, 2012
“Mile Marker 19 – v4”
editing version 2 below
&
Edited September 12, 2012
“Mile Marker 19 – v3”
editing the original again
inspired by reading it at Poets’ Corner
monthly poetry reading,
at the Suncook Senior Center
September 10, 2012
&
edited June 6, 2012 (adding an additional last stanza)
“Mile Marker 19 – v2”
&
October 2, 2011
Did You Hear Her Cry
after rereading earlier poem,
“Mile Marker 19”
&
Edited April 23, 2013
“No Life in Your Eyes – v2”
February 11, 2011
“No Life in Your Eyes”
remembering the 20th anniversary
of my father’s death, February 14, 1991
written at the House of Purpose coffeehouse
Hillsboro, NH
February 11, 2011
&
new poem February 11, 2014
Where you are scattered
posted March 22, 2004
written 2/26/2001
Adam Asked
posted March 18, 2004
written March 6, 2001
Meticulous
posted March 17, 2004
written 3/2/2001 and 3/5/2001
The Submariner
posted February 18, 2004
March 2, 2001
“Ashes”
posted February 18, 2004
March 2, 2001
“Home Again”
&
posted March 10, 2004
written April 3, 2001 8:47am
Demons
&
posted February 14, 2004
(the 13th anniversary of my father’s fatal accident)
written June 18, 2001 10:54pm
The Crash
about my father's death
February 14, 1991
and my car accident
the day I applied to law school
&
posted February 8, 2004
original version written 5/20/2000
“Mile Marker 19”
posted to my blog on February 8, 2004,
as the 15th poem put on the site -
about my father’s fatal car accident
near Mile Marker 19
on the Spaulding Turnpike
Rochester, NH
February 14, 1991 at 7:02pm
Valentine’s Day


All of my poems and photographs are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for usage. See all 40,470+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Sausage

Forget the frank,
Give me the Fenway sausage.
Lansdowne or Yawkey,
Just give me the street, the crowds, the carts.
Sausage you shrug, you the reader
Of this trifle, this whimsy
What do I mean, me the storyteller
Read on.

Peppers and onions
Tease the tongue
Bun and hot mustard
Set the stage
The scorched and blackened piece of meat
Reminds me of every one
Eaten before

So much memory
Of family and fun
Of ballgames, tailgates, and the carnie
A cacophony of moments
Drip with grease
Do you smell it too on the smoky hot grill?

My lips curl with a smirk
Writing these lines
As I laugh to myself
Of the pleasures of excess
The lusty gluttony
Of another one.



==============
edited December 28, 2015
Sausage – v3
(editing version 2)
Edited  September 21, 2012
“Sausage – v2”
posted February 14, 2004
written May 27, 2001 8:54am
Sausage
http://raymondafoss.blogspot.com/2004/02/sausage.htmll




All of my poems, photographs, and videos are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017. All rights are reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for usage. See all 45,550 of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

Friday, February 13, 2004

Alone in the Rain

I am alone on my porch, in the rain.
Nightfall is closing in.
Now, the island is lonely.
The world is muffled.

The rain falls on the porch roof.
Two mourning doves twitter as
They go from tree to tree,
Branch to branch.
Now they coo and call
To their mate.

The water shimmers
As sheets of rain
Disturb its surface.
A small yellow warbler alights
On a branch before me,
Ready to add its cheerful song to the mix.

Rain now falls from the roof
The staccato of the heavy
Drops on the hard ground below.

A lone boat courses across the water,
Eager for home.
It leaves but a wake, lost on the rocks.
Mist obscures the shoreline.
Loons steer by me.

I am still, writing these lines.
But I am anxious.
How I long for the sun
For the warmth to join me again
In my rustic cabin in the lake.


----------------
edited December 28, 2015
Alone in the Rain – revised – v2
posted February 13, 2004
written August 13, 2000 1:53am
Alone in the Rain – revised
Written 6/18/2000
Alone in the Rain
same day as “Dew in the Morning”
and
“Ten Feet Overhead


All of my poems and photographs are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for usage. See all 40,460+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.