How This Poetry Section Works
Like your common everyday feed (sans-algorithm), this page has my most recent poems on top followed by all previously posted poems. I pretty much post them as I write them, after a short time of sitting with them and tweaking them. Poetry strikes as it will so I write where I can, when I can. I use pencils and pocket notebooks or full sheet tablets or an envelope just received. So there is no schedule to this “feed”. The poems collect as a prolific knitter places hats beside in a basket, one on top of another. They are here for you to read, skip, revisit, or ignore. They are here for me because I think it’s fun.
Light's Reputation Light has a good reputation It is brightness and happiness truth and salvation the bringer of knowledge the chaser of sorrows And yet maybe perhaps we are blinding ourselves Always on in our faces pointed up, down, out, and in So bright we can’t sleep Too many up close we can’t see what’s far away like starlight Stars are not now enough for us I miss the darkness The cool, quiet, calm The time to unwind to be sad to be unseen - Heidi Hodges
Poor Little Boy My youngest was sick last night vomiting until the dawn ending with a big, messy poop He stayed home with me all the next day tired and weak Oh so much watching tv Oh so much washing laundry “Mom!” he calls “Mom!” “What?!” I’m upstairs, across the house doing laundry of course “Mom!” “I’m coming!” I rush off “Mom!” “What is it?” Concern is my middle name “Will you hand me the remotes?” (although he still says wamotes) They are three inches from his arm’s reach I lift them up, sweet and helpful as can be “What do you need? You want to turn it off? Watch something else? Change the volume?” “Nooooo” he takes them gently “Just in case” - Heidi Hodges
A Lesson Learned From A Story Recalled By My Husband After His Walk Around The Lake
Even a
bald eagle
can be harassed
by some
bold seagulls
- Heidi Hodges
My Children Ask My children ask What’s the best thing I’ve ever done Marry him My children ask What’s the happiest thing I’ve ever done Marry him My children ask What’s the most annoying thing I’ve ever done Have kids My children laugh And I tell them they are annoying and amazing and smart and silly and forgetful and fun and precious and frustrating and bratty and sweet and they are too loud and they don’t always listen and they are wonderful and I love being with them My children ask Who do I love more Him or them And I say He is special because I picked him out of all the people in the world My children I didn’t get to pick They show up and I love who they are - Heidi Hodges
Changey-Feely I feel like I am going through another life change right now A subtle mind-shift But I do feel it And it feels natural to go with it Maybe my changes are linked with the changing seasons I am ready to cease hibernation to start growing again - Heidi Hodges
Where Our Hearts Belong (25.02.22) In posts online people send their hearts out to the poor people of the country invaded In a poem I send mine I also send my heart out to the poor people of the country invading The cruelties of war do not pick sides Citizens living under the rule of aggressors are all trapped in governmental games Our hearts belong with all those suffering - Heidi Hodges
I Wrote A Poem I wrote a poem called I read a poem Poetry is fucking fun Why don’t you try writing some - Heidi Hodges
I Read A Poem I read a poem that sounded like something I would write What would she think this poet in the woods to read a poem of mine written before I’d ever read one of hers Thoughts and emotions cyclical Flitting from one to the other through all of us spreading connecting What would that poet think if she read a poem of mine that sounds like something she would write like something she has experienced Trilling threads of life weaving around and through us humming the truth for all to hear for all to say - Heidi Hodges
A Humble Life
I thought my life would be grander than this
I want to say
but oh how grand it is
when I see a random part of nature
or an act of kindness by a stranger
But no
Those are ordinary wonders
My life is missing the grandeur
of the imagination of my childhood
of the brazenness of my teens
Now I am grown
I’m not rich or famous
high up or followed
I have a humble life
I know I’m still important
Living a tiny magnificent life
- Heidi Hodges
So Softly Bright
A winter morning
so softly bright
I don’t know the names of the birds
but I hear them talk
so I guess I know
what they call themselves
My hot mug
of cinnamon tea
leaves circles in the frost
on the wood picnic table
The thin tree trunk
shades light from my eyes
I scoot along the bench
as the sun inches its way
Later it’s warmer
the snow melts away
I am sad the snow is gone
but the chickens will be happy
clucking and shaking feathers
for there is grass to graze again
- Heidi Hodges
You Know
People can’t know
How could they know
I mean really know
You know?
- Heidi Hodges
A Cold Morning
It was nice out this morning
cold
but brisk and sharp
clear and alive
The kind of cold that wakes you up
not beats you up
Sometimes I wonder if there really are different kinds of cold
or if the only difference is
my reception to it
- Heidi Hodges
No One Is Going To Read This from entry dated 20 January 2021 I have found my diary to be a wonderful place lately. A sanctuary, like people have always said a diary should be, to be my total self and to write about whatever I goddamn feel, however I goddamn want to, no matter what. I truly feel now, like I never did as a kid or teen, that no one is going to read this. No one needs to. I don't know why anyone would want to. It's just for me and that feels a bit... magical. Time for a mind to wander, time to day dream, to dream of dreams, that is magical, too. - Heidi Hodges
Being A Woman
I don’t know all what it means to be a woman
But after 34 years
I can tell you what it isn’t
It isn’t dressing up
or wearing make up
or looking pretty
It isn’t your name
or having long hair
or being called Mrs
It isn’t being put down
by a society obsessed with sex
It isn’t believing
that looking powerful is important
It isn’t what they want us to think
After 34 years
I know as much as when I was born
naked and bald
unknowing and sure
I am here
This is me
Being a woman
isn’t what we’ve been conditioned to believe
- Heidi Hodges
L’Envoi
I don’t know all what it means to be a man
But I see the same pressures
with a different twist
It isn’t dressing up
or building muscles
or looking tough
It isn’t your name
or having short hair
or shaking hands
It isn’t being put down
by a society obsessed with sex
It isn’t believing
that looking powerful is important
It isn’t what they want us to think
I see the duresses
separated at birth
when once we were
unknowing and sure
We are here
This is us
Being a man
isn’t what we’ve been conditioned to believe
- Heidi Hodges
Sending Love
My thumbs pressed together point down
My fingers curved up and around
Held in front of my chest sure
Sending love with a gesture
- Heidi Hodges
Autumn
Wonderful weather for walking
The physical feeling of fall
The odor of the atmosphere
Seeing sweet sunsets
Pines piercing the picture
Coolness catches and caresses
Wrapping a robe around
Darkness drowns day
The tacit truth temporal
- Heidi Hodges
Hot Bod
I've got a hot bod
You may not be able to see it
But I do
You may not be able to conceive it
But I did
We've got hot bods
They may not be able to see it
But we do
They may not be able to conceive it
But we did
- Heidi Hodges
Haters Gonna Hate
Haters gonna hate
Polite peeps gon be like
iss'not for me
not right now
- Heidi Hodges
Imagine
Sometimes I feel like an old man
Or how I imagine one would
The kind that sit on a public bench for hours
Wearing a cardigan in full sun
Do my musings match theirs?
Nuggets of wisdom
Past mistakes made
Dreams for the future
Do I observe as they do?
Appreciate a passerby outfit
Process an article earlier read
Think how birds are really cool
I wonder if old men sometimes feel like young women
Or how they imagine one would
We can all wear seasonably inappropriate clothing,
be wise
And know it, too
- Heidi Hodges
Inspired
Be inspired by the greats!
Not jealous of the mediocres.
- Heidi Hodges
The Hardest Part
The hardest part of being a woman
is letting it be easy
- Heidi Hodges
Swans On The Bay
I saw swans on the bay today
They made me smile
Driving away from the beach
I can’t recall seeing swans on the bay
since that sunset in early December
all those years ago
You pretended your shoelace came loose
over and over again
getting down on one knee
Swans were there
Geese flew overhead
It almost began to seem like a dream
But those swans were there today
They made me smile
Educing that day in early December
- Heidi Hodges
Meal Problems
MoOOoOooOom
Pause to take a bite
This is too big
I can't bite it
Eats a while; biting, chewing
MoOOoOooOom
Pauses to take several bites
It's still
too
big!
- Heidi Hodges
I Am A Poet
po
eh
tree
flows from me
ee
zeh
lee
- Heidi Hodges
Shrug
shrug
shrug
shrug
shrug
shrug
shrug
shrug
shrug
- Heidi Hodges
A Weekend Away
leaving town
being alone
remembering my past
I thought
I almost
lost myself
a bit
or I realized that the way I define myself is a
nebulous creation based on the stuff that
usually surrounds me
either one
- Heidi Hodges
Orbit
We grew up a few blocks apart
Years later tagged along with a friend
Unaware our stars collided
His eyes on her, I played the field
Then, then
That coffee kiss
Nebular perplexity slow to become love
Falling into perfect orbit
Vulpes et Ammissarius
And now, and now
Shifting, dancing
You think I could contain him in a poem?
- Heidi Hodges
Kaladin
You heal you kill
You brood you joke
You're unkempt and you're handsome
If only you weren't
a fictional bloke
I'd definitely try to get some
- Heidi Hodges
Parenting
pain in my head
No!
throat tripped raw from screaming
Stop!
giggling, unashamed
Why?!
pain between us all
No!
ears ring hollow from wailing
Stop!
torture, undeserved
Why?
- Heidi Hodges
Kiss
Kiss my lips
They taste like chips
- Heidi Hodges
Haiku #1
Rain calm and steady
Cold and brisk and bundled warm
Grey out, light brown in
- Heidi Hodges
Chill
Cool air, chirping
Fire burning around us, choking
Cool air, chilling
Waiting for us to shut up, listen
Cool air, feeling
Stick my neck out for that cool air
- Heidi Hodges
Sexism Is Annoying
Dear sexist men,
I am a woman.
I can lift things up
and put them back down.
Heavy things.
All by myself.
Keep your fucking comments and doubts;
Carry that shit around yourself.
Love,
Heidi Hodges
Dancing
Will you dance with me
Will you get close
It's just dancing
No one has to know
- Heidi Hodges
Like Chocolate
Mmm love letters like chocolate
Luxurious and necessary
Just run to the corner store
Breathe soul onto that paper
- Heidi Hodges
Another Idea
Oh, you want to go to sleep now?
But I got something for ya
Ideas, woman! Ideas!
Stay up
Write down
Stay up
Write down
- Heidi Hodges
Dance All The Time
Slow dance when you're sad
Kick dance when you're mad
Pump it when you're glad
Krunk it like you're bad
- Heidi Hodges
Paint
Let's paint a picture
Our lives swirled together
Gold dusting of lust
Our lips brush
Hearts expand from the pressure
- Heidi Hodges
Look Up
What are you doing here?
Look up
Look around you
Are there people nearby?
Talk to them
I DARE YOU
- Heidi Hodges
Types
Why am I so afraid of screwing up?
What if there was something wrong with all of us?
Who doesn't like eating cake icing straight with a spoon?
Okay, but who does?
There are two types of people in this world
And two types of those people
And two types of those people
Individuals
Individually flawed
- Heidi Hodges
Wait A Minute
I want to be friends, too
I don't really know you
either of you
But you're having fun
so I want to be included.
It would be less fun, though
We're not friends because
we're not friends
Cut the pretenses
We're all just fine where we are
- Heidi Hodges
When I Love
I love it when
Cats come up to me
Snuggling is an option
The kids are happy to see me come home
My husband and I share a joke with only a look
Something sparkles naturally
The words are just right and enough
- Heidi Hodges
Graphite Diamonds
It is I
that turns this graphite
into Diamonds
- Heidi Hodges
The Future
The future
Unknown, steadfastly
The choice
Sprout of Hope vs. Jitters of Doubt
- Heidi Hodges
Verbing
Be cool
Breathe
Be radical
Calm
- Heidi Hodges
Share
I just want to share
we all just want to share
something
about ourselves
sorry not sorry
I don't have a brand
- Heidi Hodges
Feeling A Fool
Some times
I make a fool of myself
And some of those times
It's only in my head
- Heidi Hodges
Lunch Revelation
Sitting, calmly, midday meal
Biting, chewing, clinking, slurping
Amid the lunchtime sounds interjected
'Mama...
I want to start wearing an eyepatch'
- Heidi Hodges
Try
The things is
I'm going to try
but
I'm not going to try too hard
- Heidi Hodges
My Husband
My husband
doesn't wait below
to catch me
He's up in the sky dancing
with me
- Heidi Hodges
Heidi Hodges 