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person to person
how we communicate acceptance with loving laughter!
sweet laughter, throaty chuckle, lingering smile
nothing tells more of human warmth
stranger in the room
responding to a fine stranger
stranger in the room
admired the more he speaks
for the idealism he’s incorporated into his life’s work
and warm reaction to teasing and laughter
it’s reassuring to respond, even wistfully, after years of widowhood
i suppose i am still alive after all
work carried on and accomplished
generations of labor and love
a lifetime of careful labor
added to parents’
to make of a farm
a palette of charm and beauty
abundant for the eye and appetite
mjNordgren 10/26/2022 McMinnville
interview with mjNordgren
fun interview with mj
now live on the City of Forest Grove Website - https://www.forestgrove-or.gov/bc-pac/page/local-artist-spotlight
In the spring of 2022, Pacific University students interviewed local artists and mjNordgren (author) for their art advocates class. What a fun time that turned out to be.
one payment, two rewards
poem about a rare opportunity in my family
aching to help my independent offspring
whose pride of self and generous spirit
i would not hurt for any gain
and now i can assist by spending
what i would have at any rate
but applying it to a cost she could not pay
delicious fear
poem remembering childhood Octobers
our discovery of delicious fear
in spooky darkness
moderated by dancing campfire light
surrounded by friends and family
listening together to storyteller
whose many voices send
chills into the marrow of our bones
so long as we know we are safe
de-desiccating
poem after a long, hot summer
cold rain, so long forgotten
for these drought dust months
green now as though each raindrop
painted blade after blade
leaf upon leaf
with the promise that not all seasons
are bone-desiccating summer
fall of yellow
An original poem by MaryJane Nordgren
a breeze
and its rain of yellow
leaves, warmth
of a golden summer
sun grown ripe
ready for the fall
revelation
storyteller at campfire
story-teller’s tone, inflection
expression and body language
as he sits, hovers, bends, twists
against the flickering firelight
recreating, intensifying, revealing
teaching us to re-think, re-feel
re-live the vastness and wonder
of our lives
october gratitude
flashes of exotic color
bright sunlight filtered
by autumn-tinted leaves
brilliant, exotic flashes
of unsung colors
quicken my pulse
awaken my need to give thanks
aruna
he went to serve and found the core of his life
a gentle peace corps volunteer
in fiji meets vivacious, adventurous
beauty and falls into a love that lasts
decades of shared sorrows, accomplishments and joys
his service to the world has built
the core of his full world
reward enough and plenty
fool time
clock v earth rhythm
darker now, we turn on lights
seek entertainment while our bodies cry for rest
awaken to annoying, fabricated noises before refreshed renewal completed
live by the rule of the clock rather than the rhythm of earth
and now contemplate changing to daylight savings all year
with noon when the sun is not high overhead
reader comment about October mjNewsletter
reader re-reads again and again
"You touch beautifully so many aspects of your and others' experiences (family, friends, a queen), glimpses of personal journeys, sweet, sad and tender-hearted , elements of surprise, puzzlement, pondering. Love your opening statement about open minds and the art pieces that enhance your wods. So much food for thought to be read again and again." S.A., Oregon
orange moon fleeing
spooky night under half-eaten moon
part ripe, orange harvest moon
part eaten by earth’s shadow
pales yellow as it rises
as though drained and frightened
at its need to flee from costumed
humans preparing to celebrate
halloween
gray awaiting sunrise in october
gray quieter in autumn
gray haze between the hills
spread out and lingering
as though reluctant to rise
until touched by dawn’s warmth
california quail ‘hurrah’
chubby flock overwhelm my bird feeder
two california quail lift heavily to the second story
of plant- and bird-feeder, settling broad girth amid the seed
spilling hulls and seed on nasturtiums, stand and porch floor below
i’ve never heard a california quail ‘hurrah’
but the enthusiastic waggle of question marks above their foreheads
must have conveyed other mothers’ and chubby half-dozen offspring’
gratitude for the quailfall