Poet, Playwright, Workshop Facilitator
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Welcome to daily nature photo and creative writing blog, #NewThisDay

Welcome to my daily nature photo blog

Writing from My Photo Stream ~ Kelly DuMar

 

#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream

Mohonk Moutain House

Mohonk Moutain House

I am here, the dogs are at home, I set my alarm for 6:00 a.m. and set my bathing suit and goggles out last night, when the alarm sounded, I rolled out of bed, sleepily, put my suit on and walked down the carpeted halls to the pool. The sky outside the large, wood framed windows was still dark; there was one other swimmer, and meditative music playing. I swam my laps and was glad. Later, I had time to walk, to see this place in daylight for the first time, to appreciate the water rippling in sunshine, and to gaze at the dreamy blue mountains in the distance, refreshed by new views and perspectives. To look down on the water from above. It was chilling outdoors today in the mountain air, refreshing and invigorating. A day of deep conversation and reflection in the Brand Artistry Lab with thoughtful, creative people, kind, and supportive, inquisitive risk-takers, deeply intentional people with vision and confusion and clarity and friendliness. A high point of my day, however, took place online, on Facebook, where I saw that a woman I met at the Power of Words conference two years ago had posted one of my poems from my chapbook, “Tree of the Apple.” “Absence” is a poem I wrote for my father after a day of taking him to the doctor when he was suffering from Alzheimer’s. That she cared, and was moved by it to share it, meant so much to me: my poem reached her, and she needed to hear it. That is so gratifying. I appreciate so much the thoughts by the poet Edward Hirsch, from his book “How To Read A Poem and Fall In Love With Poetry,” about how a poem is a message in a bottle:

Heartland
Poems are like messages in a bottle sent out with little hope of finding a recipient. Those of us who find and read poems become their unknown addresses.

To the Reader Setting Out
The reader of poetry is a kind of pilgrim setting out. To read a poem is to depart from the familiar, to leave all expectations behind.

In the Beginning is the Relation
A lyric poem is a special communiqué between an I and a You. It speaks out of a solitude to a solitude; it begins and ends in silence.

Stored Magic
The lyric poem seeks to mesmerize time. It crosses frontiers and outwits the temporal. It can bridge the gulf between people otherwise unknown to each other.

I was delighted that Brenda shared her post today: "People are amazingly resilient! Writing is a natural way to find out how resilient you are – and sharing what you write inspires other people to feel hopeful and resilient." - Kelly DuMar, M.Ed and Artist and Writer

Absence

Stay put I tell my dad, like a parent 
warning an impulsive child to behave
in her absence. I leave the car running, 
heat blowing, knowing he can’t follow me 
on his blown out knee even if he forgets 
why I left him or who I am or when I’ll 
return and I will not let him freeze 
in my absence. Coatless

into the wind I cross the lot, halogen 
lit, past freezing cars, parked without 
passengers, fingers stinging and clutching 
his prescription for pain. Inside, I follow

signs and more signs through a maze of 
make-up, of medicine, to the rear where I wait 
and keep waiting, while behind the counter

the pharmacist under bright lights is rushing, 
and then I am too, back toward the exit – but 
here he comes, limping through the electric door
waving my coat sleeves open like a father 
tracking a forgetful child - like a father 
who won’t let me freeze.

Published in “Kindred,” 2013 and “All These Cures,” 2014

Mohonk Mountain House

Mohonk Mountain House

All photos and text ©Kelly DuMar unless otherwise attributed

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