WWPH WRITES Poetry

OF WHAT DO WE MAKE OUR HOMES?

by Jean Nordhaus

Of wood. Of stone. Of earth. Of ice.
Some chicken wire, a few geranium seeds.
A mat. A stake. A shell. I knew a man
whose longing was his home. A woman
who built a nest in the wreckage of lust.
A child who lived in the house of her hands,
whose fingers were her only friends.
I knew a lover whose foundation stone
was flight. A tune that lodged all night
in a creaking limb. A penstemon
that pitched its tent in an open field.
A crested lark whose home was all
of Portugal. I knew a foot soldier whose flag
was winding cloth. His home
was in the ground. A prayer. A wish.
A vow. Some mansions are of sorrow,
some of hope. Of leaves. Of hay. Of wind.

©Jean Nordhaus 2024

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Jean Nordhaus earned an undergraduate degree in philosophy from Barnard College and a PhD in German literature from Yale University. She is the author of The Music of Being (Broadstone Books, 2023), Memos from the Broken World (2016), Innocence (2006), The Porcelain Apes of Moses Mendelssohn (2002), A Bracelet of Lies (1987, Washington Writers’ Publishing House), and the poetry chapbook A Language of Hands (1982). Nordhaus has been the poetry coordinator for the Folger Shakespeare Library’s poetry programs and has taught at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland. She was the review editor of Poet Lore and lives in Washington, DC. She is a past president of the Washington Writers’ Publishing House. Of What Do We Make Our Homes? was first published in Memos from the Broken World (Mayapple Press, 2016.

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SOME THINGS

by Marvin Galvin

Some things I wouldn’t hurt
If my clumsy life depended on
the turn of events: the great
white heron, sentinel to beauty,
the anhinga, wings spread to dry
on the edge of the lake, and yet
they fly from me who never mean them harm,
would sooner bite myself than take a dive
at what I’d never catch anyway.

You’d think at my age
I’d have something to say
Would ring like bells
Announcing something new:
A Sunday morning after rain
A Tuesday with no headache
A Thursday full of slake
A Friday meant for sharing.

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Martin Galvin (February 21, 1937 – August 6, 2018) is the author of six books of poems: Away to Home (Poets Choice Publishing, 2017); Sounding the Atlantic (Broadkill River Press, 2010); Circling Out (Finishing Line Press, 2007); the chapbook Appetites (Bogg Publications, 2000); Making Beds (Sedgewick House, 1989); and Wild Card (Washington Writers Pub House 1989), winner of the 1989 Columbia Prize for Poetry. His poetry, fiction, and essays appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Best American Poetry 1997, Delaware Poetry Review, Orion, Poetry, and The New Republic. Galvin moved to the DC area in the 1970s. He taught at St. Joseph’s College, Walt Whitman High School, and the Writer’s Center. Galvin was born in Mt. Airy, PA, and served in the U.S. Navy. He earned a BA from Villanova University and an MA and PhD from the University of Maryland. Galvin was married and the father of two daughters. He is interred in a columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery. Notably, he was also a past president of the Washington Writers’ Publishing House. This unpublished poem was found in his notebooks dated February 19, 2010, and was graciously provided to WWPH by Theresa Galvin.

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BE PART OF THE WWPH COMMUNITY. Join us next Friday, November 15th from 6-8 pm WHAT ARTISTS SEE: THE VIOLENCE WITHIN… AN EVENING OF ART AND LITERATURE in conjunction with the Cheuse Center at George Mason University. Megan Doney, winner of WWPH 2024 Nonfiction Prize, and poet Amanda Newell. The backdrop of this event is Mason’s collaboration with South African print-making now on display at the Mason Exhibitions gallery in Arlington. The event will include a reception, readings, and more. Themes include anti-violence and how we perceive threats to ourselves and our societies. The framing of South African and American artists and audiences will allow for an international exploration of creativity at this pivotal moment. Presented in collaboration with your Washington Writers’ Publishing House.More details here. ALL INVITED.