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The Outdoor Poet: Janet Trenchard

Talisman
Clipping shears in hand,
rooting among the grapevines,
I spot the remains of the whalebone
that my husband and his first wife
found on the beach,
secret dowry from the wife
who didn’t care
to the wife who needed
a talisman, a dream.
We dreamed of a barn studio
out in the desert that we would call Whalebone.
Here it is in the dirt, broken, crumbling,
spinal chunks covered in moss,
the curious beauty of decay,
all that seaformed bone,
its power draining down,
gone, now, into the vines,
whose winter branches
flail wildly, ready for pruning,
slapping me as I hurry
back to the house.

Lifeline
Over and over, I wander these rocky bluffs,
sometimes there is a window
through the clouds.
One clear day I spot a ladder,
an old woman at the top
welcomes me–
to a party in full swing,
paisley shirts, Luther Vandross,
cigar-smoking bikers,
a girl in yellow chiffon.
Staring into a wine cooler
I contemplate the mysteries;
here is how wisdom dawns,
like a lilac sunset,
a wrinkled hand,
a tendril curling on a vine,
a mortar and pestle, grinding.

About The Writer Janet Trenchard taught art in public high school for 12 years before retiring to pursue her own creative interests. An artist and writer, her paintings and assemblages have been exhibited in San Jose, Palo Alto, and San Francisco. She is presently an exhibiting member of the Los Gatos Museums Gallery and her poems and stories have been published in Porter Gulch Review, and other small journals.

The Outdoor Poet is edited by Robert Sward, author of numerous books of poetry including, most recently, New and Selected Poems: 1957-2011 (Red Hen Press). He lives on the Westside with his wife, the artist Gloria Alford, and a poodle mix named Cosette. Participation in The Outdoor Poet is by invitation.

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