Mindful Poetry Gathering- October 2022

This month for Mindful Poetry Moments we gathered to listen and contemplate the poem "Your Name Brushes By" by Reena Ribalow. Rana Dotson, A Mindful Moment Trustee, opened with a "letting-go" meditation. Bî-Mia C Reid selected and presented the poem and gifted us with a wonderful prompt: "Pair a food or creature with a creepy feeling with a doomed love story."

We were delighted with the poems that were created during our hour together and were also gifted with the presence of two of Ribalow's relatives, including her son.

Here is a video of the gathering and poems created by our gatherers.

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Deb Daniel

Sucked into the mud
of servitude
I smile up into your
glistening teeth.

Oyster
©draft, Patricia J. Franz, October 27, 2022

you hold no pearl
a craven force, encased,
captive, toothy, smug
jaded, you bring no joy
in this netherworld
sent to flavor my broken heart
salt in my wound

if you are not to know love
is it to be denied others?
is this a solitary vendetta,
to cast your curse upon what could have been?

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Bryce Kessler

I knew when I saw you
That your heart was a swamp.

Deep, dark, watery, wet.
Steaming, seeping, oozing, bruising.
Mud and sludge, boiling and bubbling.

The signs said “Turn back!” but I waded out.
I got sucked into the mud, a heart cold and black.

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Mindful Poetry Moments, a collaboration incubated by The On Being Project and now supported by The Well and partners The Hive, The Mercantile Library, and WordPlay, offers a chance to pause and reflect on poetry’s ability to encounter ourselves, the world, and the mystery of each other.