Stephen Ratcliffe
Five Poems from HUMAN / NATURE
7.1
upturned curve of pine branch against grey whiteness of sky
in upper right foreground, dried hemlock stalk slanting up
across from it, sound of waves breaking in channel
Cary
Grant answering the phone, asking Katherine Hepburn, “is
that you”
Rumsfeld claiming he wants to clear Taliban
out of Afghanistan and the Saddams out of Iraq, adding
“if you want to call that ‘a quagmire’ do it, I don’t”
silver of sunlight reflecting off the windblown blue-
plane of channel, width of fog behind pine on point
7.2
song sparrows calling from tobacco plant branch in upper
right foreground, grey-white sky behind it, drops falling
into watering can next to glass back door
woman on right
recalling finding The Countess from Minneapolis in New York,
whose exploration of space still holds her attention
woman
on phone admitting she’s still in her pajamas, having started
to read Hemingway last night, wind blowing so hard yesterday
the tennis ball seemed to slow before it got to her
white
water moving in across the grey-green plane of the channel,
wingspan of pelican flapping across toward point above it
7.3
streaked sparrow perched on curved copper bar above feeder
in left foreground, light green of hemlock stalk against
grey-white sky above it, sound of jet passing overhead
man in black sweatshirt recalling the man from Detroit
talking about his commute, 80 percent of the city trashed
woman with hair pulled back sending large box of lavender
from the garden to a 72 year old woman in Mobile, Alabama,
who died two days after they arrived
line of grey-white
fog bank moving across horizon to the left of the point,
blinding circle of sun in cloudless blue sky overhead
7.4
red house finch pecking up seeds from table in left
foreground, motion of tobacco plant leaves and branches
as wind moves across it, sound of waves breaking in channel
man at left end of table noting “nobody likes Brahms like I
do,” woman in pink thinking he said “bombs”
Mahmoud Abbas
claiming “killing and destruction do nothing but plant hate,”
adding “even if we are required to make painful sacrifices,
I am prepared to make them”
grey-white sky’s reflection
in the grey-green plane of the channel, wingspan of gull
flapping toward the circular green pine on tip of point
7.5
silhouette of hummingbird perched on dried hemlock stalk
in right foreground, high thin white clouds in pale blue
sky above it, sound of helicopter moving across it
man
who rides bike across mountain passes noting “I’ve never
owned a motorcycle, because I would have killed myself”
trumpet player recalling driving in van to Steamboat
Springs, writing horn lines to someone else’s song,
patch of black ice landing the band in debt
line
of white cloud in pale blue sky above point, sunlight
flickering off blue-green wave to the left of GROIN sign
