Poems by Lara Dolphin

 

What do you hear when I say, ‘I love you?

 

a trombone played with plungers and mutes

the wah woah wah of Mrs. Hagemeyer, nee Othmar

 

do your eyes blear as phonemes fly by

and words devolve into meaningless globs

 

I say it again and again hoping to get through

but the phrase begins to lose all meaning

 

still, I persist

to reach you where you are

 

knowing that if language is the only homeland

then we are far from home

 

 

 

In Search Of The Wondrous Whole

 

we fools rush in

traversing the sward

trampling the pasture

missing the trees for the forest.

We miss the smalti

gold leaf hand cut

mounted on glass

covered with crystal hand blown

fused into pure reflection of light–

in pursuit of imagery

overlooking the art.

We simply don’t see

or taste as the case may be.

Moving from the luminous

to the ridiculous,

our nine-year-old smelling curry,

scurries through the kitchen

through clouds of coriander,

cumin and mustard

onion, garlic and oil.

Pinched nose,

breathing through her mouth,

she hurries from the house

into the yard

and the wider world

where the numinous is laid bare

in wildflowers and weeds.

 

Ode To A Can Opener (A Lovelace 2.0 Sonnet)

 

Can opener, inspire my meals tonight

How do I love the way you cut and turn

Most helpful tool, you grab and grind and bite

Unlocking tasty food for which I yearn.

 

Let me compare you to a grapefruit spoon

You are more toothy and more curious

If you’d create a meal for me this noon

my workday would be less laborious

 

It is a fine utensil you can see

Surprising me with new and splendid food

Originating yummy treats for me

That always meet my wishes and my mood

 

If this be more machine than living thing,

I never wrote, nor songs did ever sing.

 

 

 

Lara Dolphin is an attorney, nurse, wife and mom of four amazing kids; she is exhausted and elated most of the time