Poetry

Jan 15, 2017 by Bethel Swift

Once more, / I have reached / too high . . .

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Nov 15, 2016 by Bethel Swift

She pushes a cart full of plastic bundles, / in an Irish mist—far from its origin. / And we cross together . . .

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Feb 15, 2016 by Bethel Swift

He is always walking, walking / noiseless, in the bitter cold. / A single, slender stick a’ shoulder / strong and sure enough to hold . . .

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Nov 15, 2015 by Bethel Swift

  This session is brought to you by the numbers 9 out of 10 . . .

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Jun 15, 2015 by Bethel Swift

Gentle Wind whispers, / after so many storms . . .

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May 15, 2015 by Bethel Swift

A cento is a "patchwork" poem comprised of lines from other poet's poems. I wrote this poem as a homework assignment for Poetics 2 through The Chicago School of Poetics. Some punctuation was changed. Citations follow the poem . . .

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Mar 15, 2015 by Bethel Swift

This poem is part of a larger project that I am working on to honor the life of Dr. Ludmilla Finkelstein. The Kwansaba is an African American poetry form based on the seven principles of the Kwanzaa celebration. Typically a praise song, the form (seven lines of seven or fewer words with seven or fewer letters in each word) was invented in the 1990s. This poem contains three Kwansabas written in October 2013, while studying at Kennedy King College, under Professor Martha Vertreace-Doody. I am posting it today, to mark the anniversary of Luda's birth (March 19, 1913) . . .

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Feb 15, 2015 by Bethel Swift

I don't mean to criticize, (though I'm told You can handle that sort of thing) / but here I crouch, tugging at Your invisible cloak, because I am pulling apart at the seams . . .

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Jan 15, 2015 by Bethel Swift

Somehow I didn’t notice them— / all flailing arms and slipping feet— / until they slid down right in front of me / solemnly stating, “We need help.” ...

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