“Dusk,” “Mercy,” and “In Winter’s Winds”
“the priestly trees are silent no hail mary’s or token absolutions they sway like a thousand rabbis at the wall but nothing wails except the wind the prayers have been folded and tucked into stones or turned into origami prisms and floated like kites toward the sky who is left to do the bidding to mind the castle when there is no one left”—Mimi German
Miriam’s Well
By Mimi German
PORTLAND Oregon—(Weekly Hubris)—March 2021—
Dusk
rain drops hard clacks the earth like worry beads the priestly trees are silent no hail marys or token absolutions they sway like a thousand rabbis at the wall but nothing wails except the wind the prayers have been folded and tucked into stones or turned into origami prisms and floated like kites toward the sky who is left to do the bidding to mind the castle when there is no one left
Mercy
i am you alone on the street squatting beneath the trees that guard me against all the rain i am as much not jesus as you are jesus we live inside this mythological mask of living of dying happy as the scrum swimming in the backwash of rainbows winter leaves ruby then decompose like branchless myths on the byways and sideways mercy is worthless between the thighs of beauty underneath a worn skirt delayed and denied
In Winter’s Winds
days darken by the dead and dying the lifeless light of a porcelain temple has oxidized to dust the turnstile rickets for one last lustre and like leaves the color of cayenne the desiccate lonelies frower then crumble carnelian the red throated diver rests on iron flint and then to dusk song birds preen the souse in braids of threading rain the wind and snow have marked in chalk the fall of garden’s thornless rose the sun is now a burned out brick more ashes for the stove our bed is cold as coal
Mimi German
Mimi German is a poet living in Portland, Oregon. Her poetry manuscript, Eyes of Horse Hair, recently received Honorable Mention for The Hopper Poetry Prize 2020. German's poetry may be found in “The Hopper,” “The Mantle,” “Three Line Poetry” (Vols. 51 & 52), “NewVerse News,” “Public Pool,” and “Counterpunch.” Her spare time is spent advocating for the unhoused in the village of St. Johns.
6 Comments
Kendall
I love Mimi’s powerful poems. She’s forging ahead with a form of poetry that avoids line breaks and depends on vivid imagery and thought association to surprise us and blow our minds.
Anne Kohut
What joy to see Mimi German’s beautiful work in this publication! I’ve long appreciated how her poet’s eye captures the world around us in evocative language that captures the joy, heartache, hope & longing of all our existence.
Randy
Having this many of your poetic creations in one place is wonderful.
Mimi German
Kendall, thank you for seeing my poetry with such clarity and for sharing your thoughts about my work with others. I have carried your encouragement and wisdom in my heart for a long while now. We must trust the art and its process and avoid the challenges of getting in its way even when we feel less than secure about it. Thank you for your guidance and for your trust over these few years that what I see and how it makes its way to the page, will be honest and true to what I witness.
Mimi German
Anne,
Thank you for reading my poetry and for seeing all that is within it. Yes, it is often dark since these are the dark times, but you also see the joy and love that is woven in between the spaces of breath. I am grateful that WeeklyHubris has offered me a spot beside its hearth to set my poems free. Thank you for coming to this site to see what WH has to offer!
Mimi German
Hi Randy. Thank you so much for your wonderful comment and also for reading my work!
With gratitude–
Mimi