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New Years Poems: New Year’s Observation from the Bench

By Will Willingham 7 Comments

New Year’s Observation
from the Bench

A spring and summer,
a fall, has come and gone

and still it hangs
tangled in the branches—

a white grocery sack
torn      into pieces,

making it both simpler
and more difficult
to bring down.

—L. Willingham Lindquist

Photo by Jenny Downing,  Creative Commons license via Flickr.

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Will Willingham
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Will Willingham
Director of Many Things; Senior Editor, Designer and Illustrator at Tweetspeak Poetry
I used to be a claims adjuster, helping people and insurance companies make sense of loss. Now, I train other folks with ladders and tape measures to go and do likewise. Sometimes, when I’m not scaling small buildings or crunching numbers with my bare hands, I read Keats upside down. My first novel, Adjustments, is available now.
Will Willingham
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Latest posts by Will Willingham (see all)
  • Book Club Announcement: The Reindeer Chronicles - January 11, 2021
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Filed Under: Attentiveness Poems, Blog, Courage Poems, New Year's Poems, Poems, poetry, Short Poems

About Will Willingham

I used to be a claims adjuster, helping people and insurance companies make sense of loss. Now, I train other folks with ladders and tape measures to go and do likewise. Sometimes, when I’m not scaling small buildings or crunching numbers with my bare hands, I read Keats upside down. My first novel, Adjustments, is available now.

Comments

  1. Maureen Doallas says

    January 1, 2014 at 12:26 pm

    A really fine poem!

    I love how your poetry has developed over this past year. Thank you for all you do to make TSP a success. I especially appreciate your wonderful humor and that you let me make poems of your prose.

    Looking forward to continuing the journey.

    Reply
    • Will Willingham says

      January 1, 2014 at 1:59 pm

      Thanks, Maureen. 🙂 It’s been great to learn alongside such fine poets and writers. And I love the poems you make. Here’s to a wonderful 2014. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Laura Brown says

    January 2, 2014 at 12:45 pm

    New Year’s Observation From the Branch

    Cat food and Kleenex from store to home,
    lunch and newspaper from home to work,
    empty containers from work to car—

    I carried those before the wind
    carried me to this tree, speared
    and wreathed with leaves

    that tickled and patted and shielded and scratched
    and fell off and left me naked up here.
    I’m no good for carrying any more

    than air, which brought me here
    and might again take me down
    or sail me higher.

    Reply
    • L. L. Barkat says

      January 2, 2014 at 1:13 pm

      oh, fun, Laura, to switch perspectives! 🙂

      I especially like the end.

      Reply
    • Will Willingham says

      January 2, 2014 at 4:52 pm

      Oh, I love that last part too. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Rosanne Osborne says

    January 3, 2014 at 11:38 am

    http://poetryhawk.blogspot.com/2014/01/resolve.html

    Reply
  4. Marcy Terwilliger says

    January 5, 2014 at 11:36 pm

    It’s words in a heap at my feet today,
    which ones will I pick and choose?
    How will they spill out of my soul,
    does anyone bother to choose?
    For me it’s the most natural thing to do,
    ponder each day writing something to say.
    Real soul words, refined offerings that lead you to pathways that have a panorama
    view or sparkling seas.
    Splashes of color like sunsets or rainbows,
    a kaleidoscope of words so intense it gives you pause.
    Timeless, unmistakable, unforgettable words that utterly leave you saying “Wow.”
    Are my words witty, warm, funny and unique?
    What is it that you think?
    If they were a best seller today,
    what would your thoughts about me say?
    These are the questions a writer reflects on though out the day.
    Pondering their writings, wondering what to say.

    Reply

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