The Earth Still Turns

By Brown Bag Poets

A Gathering of Brown Bag Poets

An eclectic collection of world views
by six women who write of the joys,
puzzles, mysteries, humor, and grief
encountered in life—and of the courage
and strength that helps us to survive.
They write of—
… being “poised on the edge of expectation”
... finding joy in changing seasons,
“I reach for a wild strawberry and taste September.”
... warm love, cold hearts, family secrets,
“If you don't talk about it, it didn’t happen.”
... a woman, beginning “to dwell on death,”
recalling her tiny footprints inside her daddy’s
giant ones, following as he plowed.
... regrets of unsatisfied aspirations,
“the shades of time are drawn with sighs.”
... effects of aging,
“He’s lost the tales he once told.”
... fighting fears,
“She stays inside now trusting the roof
to keep her grounded.”
... goodbyes,
“as you breathe more lightly, ready to shed
your tired body.”
... and how we go on,
“just as if the earth is still turning.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Dec 19, 2014
• ISBN: 9781312756809

Book preview

The Earth Still Turns

The Earth Still Turns

Poems

by

The Brown Bag Poets

Linda Banks

Barbara Blanks

Mary Cimarolli

Catherine L’Herisson

Pat Randolph

Marilyn Stacy

Copyright December 2014

Dallas, Texas

The Earth Still Turns

Published by The Brown Bag Poets

ISBN: 978-1-312-75680-9

Paperback version available at

www.lulu.com.

Cover Photo by NASA

Contents may not be copied or reproduced in any media

without express consent by the author poet,

each of whom retains the rights to her poems,

except for customary privileges

extended to the press

and other reviewing agencies.

Dedication

In Appreciation of Irene Carmichael

and

In Memory of Wendy Dimmette and Faye Leeper

In the Brown Bag Poets’ first book of poems, Swimming for

the Moon, one of our group wrote that each time we met, we aimed

our imaginations in the direction of a light that changes things. Every time we meet, we feel we advance a little closer to that light.

Two of our members are no longer with us, but have moved

on to a higher light: Wendy Dimmette and Faye Leeper.

Remembering Wendy

She would listen for the silence,

and in stillness, tune to higher vibration.

Connected to universal oneness,

she rejoiced in the wonder of writing.

Her grace and beauty clearly

visible to the casual eye,

her glow began deep within,

expanding to fill any room.

If you are ever blessed to catch

a glimpse of that kind of luminance,

embrace the light and shine it

on your own inner poet.

Marilyn Stacy

Shared Roots

for Faye

One day we chased tumbleweeds

across a west Texas field, rejoicing

in what we snatched from the wind.

That shared down-to-earth moment

was a rarity in our unlikely friendship.

You soared high above the clouds,

searching for answers beyond knowing.

I flew closer to the ground, looking

down at what I already understood.

Different in many ways, we knew

both oil and water flowed beneath

our feet, deep like our shared roots.

We grew from there, whether flying

with the wind or racing against it.

Linda Banks

crystal chains

A Gathering of Brown Bag Poets

(in quatrain variations)

Beware when poets congregate—

the jaws converse while eyes dilate,

the high as we disseminate,

and share what we appreciate.

We’re thankful for the alphabet,

for letters layered, shaken, stirred,

then tossed on paper—poets get

their kicks manipulating words.

Through words and laughter—warp and weft—

we poets form a living loom

of woven friendships in a room,

rapt by the gift of poems.

Barbara Blanks

Plant Sale

When I went out this