Diane Elayne Dees – Two Poems


Waiting Out the Storm on Magazine Street

The flaming orange of the snowball,
the sharp-sweet taste of mango,
the purple house across the street,
the man in the turquoise chair slipping
me a wink while his wife tells a story,
the chair I bought on impulse,
waiting for me in the blue car
now luminous with New Orleans rain,
rushing down suddenly,
washing me transparent with joy.



Banner Elk Mountain Day

Dozens of hummingbirds
buzz, seduced by plum
showers of rhododendron.
Sharp saffron perfume
permeates dark pine passages
of brook-driven rhythm.
Mountain laurel shines
rosy light across violet sky.
Fire pink explodes.


Author’s Statement on Beauty

In the glorious 1954 remake of A Star is Born, the Norman Maine character describes the “little jabs of pleasure” that we experience when we are confronted with beauty. Sometimes they are indeed little jabs, and sometimes they are heart-piercing quakes that effect tears and transport us to what some have called our true “home.” 

We have many more than the five senses we were taught about in school, and when these senses respond to beauty, a complex neuron dance is cued in our bodies. For me, beauty exists everywhere, and I feel the rhythm of that dance throughout each day, regardless of my mental or emotional state. I have to experience beauty to survive.


 

Diane Elayne Dees‘s poetry has been published in many journals and anthologies. Dees, who lives in Louisiana, also publishes Women Who Serve, a blog that covers women’s professional tennis throughout the world.