Nancy K. Jentsch – Five Poems
Greek Sea and Damselfly
Aegean blue unmarred
by busy eddies, ancient skerries
forged by Poseidon’s trident
Morning sheen settles in wake
of yesterday’s ripples
a table laid expectant of the feast
My eyes hover, skim tipsy,
stillness whispers even beyond the horizon
till time is infinity
and place eternity
When one damselfly blinks into flight
her honey-tipped wing beats
hasten the banquet
where gods once supped
Demeter’s Garland
Asparagus thrusts through soil
barely past the last frost
reaches high for light to paint its spears.
Spinach spreads a high-pile carpet
beseeches one more sweetening freeze
with deep green hands.
June’s temptress cherries taunt,
currants catch sun’s rays
hand them on as seedy puckers.
Cilantro stands sentry
over hills of squash blossom opals
ranks of jade-green beans.
Days shorten on sugar golden corn
pumpkins hide among vines –
braids for Demeter’s garland
Last Snow
last snow
leaves lacy traces balanced on chestnut hulls
strewn cold-drunk below boughs
sleeves dreaming berry vines
that wish for weighty fruit
slakes earth’s yearning
so both thistle and lily can sing
thorn and morning glory soar
Airborne Reign
Dew-sweet wings
bear geese in regal flight
drawn north to south and back again
singing anthems to warn encourage lament.
Storm wake’s cool air brushes their feathers
clouds shade them; their shadows hide a mouse’s flight.
When goose and gander briefly land
they raise up next year’s flying choir
then return to crown the sky
light with grace.
Sipping Lantana
Porch-hung lantana summons,
sweet drink fuels flurry
of blurred wingbeats.
Brash hum hovers
like jazz pianist over keyboard.
Coy chirp thanks
for drink set before her.
Needle-thin beak draws
passage to tropical winter.
Author’s Statement on Beauty
Since a time before language was written, we humans have been driven to capture or replicate the beauty we see around us. Cave dwellers provided early examples and now quilters plant tulips on quilts, photographers gather the colors of a sunset, violinists trill like a songbird and poets use a palette of words for their canvas. This atavistic drive, then, is part of our human make up and therefore integral to our existence. For this reason, beauty is essential not only in each life but also for the flourishing of the human race.
Nancy Jentsch has taught German and Spanish at Northern Kentucky University for over 30 years. She has published numerous scholarly articles and her short fiction and poetry have appeared in journals such as The Journal of Kentucky Studies, the Aurorean, *82 Review, and Eclectica. Her chapbook Authorized Visitors (Cherry Grove Collections, an imprint of WordTech Communications) is forthcoming in May 2017.