Sarah M. Wells

In Our Backyard

… a tentative title… and, as all poems go with April PAD, a work in progress. It was time for a poem about my brothers :)In Our BackyardIn our backyard, we were always digging.We needed to practice the artof going deeper, how best to slantthe shovel, step, jump – open up the earth,dump and siftContinueContinue reading “In Our Backyard”

Rappelling

**POOF!**

PAD Challenge and Creek Walk

April is National Poetry Month, and to celebrate, I’ve decided to again take up the challenge to write a poem-a-day. I altered the challenge a bit last year to only happen on the weekdays unless I felt particularly inspired on the weekends, so I will likely stick to these guidelines again this year. My kidsContinueContinue reading “PAD Challenge and Creek Walk”

Explaining Easter to My Three-Year-Old

Imagine your marshmallow Peeps devoured by your brotherwithout one lick of sticky sweetness, the giant chocolate rabbitmelted in the sun. Even your mother and father –those great false gods – have eaten every jelly bean,taken away the pastel colored eggs. You hold your basket,empty, save for some stringy plastic grass.This is how Good Friday feels,ContinueContinue reading “Explaining Easter to My Three-Year-Old”

Ambition

It has been a great week of a forced fast from the computer, kind of – with mobile uploads and Twitter’s mobile connect to Facebook, I have been able to give the appearance of an online presence 😉 Thank God for Twitter and its ability to make sure everyone knows what normal and uninteresting thingsContinueContinue reading “Ambition”

Calling Hours

2 Samuel 14:14Cry, but know your tears will not helpcarry me down the Yellow Creek,where I will meet so many otherhappy rafters in the Ohio River –kick our feet and let our fingersdangle in the waters. We will tieour rafts together as we swinginto the Mississippi, hold hands,anticipate which way the currentturns and ride theContinueContinue reading “Calling Hours”

Cascade Valley

Look, my daughter, the pine treedropped its seeds, and herea fragile sapling braves the forest floor.This used to be a birch treebut maybe lightning sliced it,wind heaved its heavy breath against itand now the trunk is rust.Sticks used to flirt, flaretheir skirts of springtime buds,but now we throw the broken limbsinto the rushing floodwaters toContinueContinue reading “Cascade Valley”

The Homecoming

Tuba bells catch stadium light in the end zone,flash it to cymbals, who wait at attentionin the percussion section. In the stands, parents bundle under blankets, wave to friends.Elementary boys wear oversized jerseys and blue jeans,chase girls with bags of popcorn and fruit punch.Their older siblings gather in corners, drink Pepsi,eat pizza, go out intoContinueContinue reading “The Homecoming”

Back to Health

I took a leave from blogging/reading/writing/thinking for about a week due to sinus infections and roto viruses which amounted to a lot of nasty bodily fluids in our house in the last few weeks. Ew. I will spare the blog world every grotesque detail. Suffice it to say, it was a sort of comedy ofContinueContinue reading “Back to Health”

Stealing Ideas and Old French Language "Roots"

Dent-de-LionIn the words of a poet friend of mine, *poof!* So, I have a secret I need to spill. I rob Wikipedia, Google, and the Bible of all their good ideas. I am a thief. I admit it. This poem is a good example and an easy entrance into confession.First, I have been trying toContinueContinue reading “Stealing Ideas and Old French Language "Roots"”