Category Archives: Poetry

Climate Changes

Poetry, , , ,
Atlas Mountains: Oukmaiden, Morocco, one mile from my Uncle BB's home, April 9, 2013, photo by Nicole Barchilon Frank
Atlas Mountains: Oukmaiden, Morocco, one mile from my Uncle BB’s home, April 9, 2013, photo by Nicole Barchilon Frank

“There is no comfort in the geologic record.”

We are the whimsy of G♥d’s blink.

I may feel the warmth and roundness of my children’s bodies.
I may feel my husband’s tongue deep inside me and all around me.
I may feel the sunset in the singing of my blood.

I cannot know when I will die, or when my children shall.
I can love every day.
I can make mistakes over and over and over again.
I can complain,
and I do.

The clock ticks
marking what?

Time,

who is counting the seconds,
who can count them?

When will I know I’ve arrived?

Is there anything more than my attempts at connection?
I’m listening.
I’m here.

I’m comforted by his touch
by the sunset
by the taste of peaches
by the roses
bubble baths
my cat’s rough tongue

and my fountain pen.

Poem inspired by BBC report on the random and “unsurvivable” (for human life now) climate changes of this planet’s history. The reporter ended with the quote that starts the poem. © Nicole Barchilon Frank, 4 Av 5759, July 18, 1999

La Pêche

Food, Poetry, Weighty Matters, ,
Peaches from Neukom Family Farm
Peaches from Neukom Family Farm

Sounds like pehhsssssh
long and soft on the “s”
also means fish
pêcher = to fish

your peaches have hooked the sun
they swim in my mouth
Heaven encountered
by buds on my tongue
I hold this warm ball of sunshine
and the aroma swims up and dives deep
into the valleys of my being

this peach/pêche
fruit of a mother tree
tended by you
pruned of what is old
or twisted, broken or no longer of use

rainwater and dew blessed
river to cloud to drops descending down
rivulets running down, down to roots
tickled and caressed
by small creatures and many legged ones
speaking the language
of the earth and singing songs
in a language only the roots and leaves
know the secret of

top to bottom, soil enriched by your
sweat and your love
this peach has hooked the
sun who is only about 94.4 million miles away
no distance really
this peach has heard the melody of the planets
in its brown, twisting, dancing deep roots

This Neukom Family peach/pêche
is a treasure beyond measure
essentially enlivening and ennobling
the Creation and the Creator

I’m swimming in a Holy River, peachy
thanks to you, co-worker with the
Holy One, Creator of La Pêche

I’m colored completely in a soft peach light
curled up and held eternally in a mesh and web of delight
Peachy thanks to you!

© Nicole Barchilon Frank