Before the Alphabets
(After W. S. Merwin)I am trying to decipher the wordsinsects spin into night’s dark speechvapors and tremorsin a grammar of …
Author Archives: Ronald E. Shields
Distance
On the edge of townoaks and pines unfoldon a spray of wetlandacross my trail,knotted catbrier pins my arms;ten yards away …
The Squirrel
Every day for three years I shared my peanutswith a small gray squirrel. She had a blond tail.I never touched …
In Dreamland
(After Mary Oliver)When I lived in the cityI dreamed I was made of bricks.When I lived by a small round …
Burning
(After Mary Oliver, On Traveling to Beautiful Places)Mary found God everywhere—dusty flowerbeds, sand under sun,certainly on distant islands,each place animated …
Invasive
Invasive plants get around, the woods are a promiscuous place.Kudzu, rose of Sharon come with a mad lust for lifeand …
Persistence
I could do that, thinks the mannequin, I could be a scarecrow. Changewould do me good—this plastic smile makes my …
Everything For Real
What does it mean to call yourself Glue All?Really? Glue everything?Okay, paper, plastic, wood—but failure,fog, memories? What then is everything?It …
The Magic of Crows
If the sadness of a tolling bellis the absence of melody,the heartbeat is a melancholy rhythmwe don’t want to escape,but …
Answers
AnswersIf my body becomes my soul, where will I be?Where will I go to feel the world pressagainst me, the …
Poetry on the run 