Down in the sleeper’s darkness
it is so deep
that above, the weather
can be any kind at all, any
season; but down here
it’s too dark to matter.
If he had one wish
what would it be?
There are so many wishes
and so little need. But
the human mind
is an odd one
and he asks for someone
to send down a picture
of the sun. Let him remember.
Let him realize
the memory of light.
—Previously published in the blog, Medusa’s
Kitchen (9 November 2011)
—Also available on a magnet from the R.L. Crow Magnet
Project (square magnets with poems from local poets and art design by
Richard Hansen)
and in the smirk of dark ages, add coins and
executed thoughts. You will never be hungrier. History
is a sensuous woman who stands by an evening
window, holding a candle, and no one knows if the light
is for getting her through the house, or inviting someone in.
Upstairs, the bed chamber is cold and quiet. For warmth
you will need a lover or warm bricks at your feet, and
prayers, even if you are not religious. Many prayers.
Charlie in situation #1
runs from terrorists
in his strange dance jog
holding on to his
derby hat, looking for occupy—
safety—while the funny
man who climbs on the
giant clock of time
hangs high above the streets.
Then it’s midnight.
Everyone turns to kiss each other
leaving the comedians
to their own devices. The world
view is roof tops and interiors.
Time slings its second hand
over its shoulder, and Einstein
dashes in some impossible race.
—Previously published in Interludes of Passion,
a chapbook produced by Kamini Press as a New Year’s greeting in 2012
was born in Washington D.C. five years before the onset of World War II. She was
in San Francisco when it ended, and remembers her mother taking her brothers and
her to Market Street to watch the celebration. Since 1951 she has lived in or near
Sacramento, California.
Menebroker has published 23 chapbooks and poetry books, taught in the prison
system, and judged poetry contests. Her work appears in anthologies, including
The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry, in broadsides, and on postcards;
and she has collaborated with other poets over the years, including an exchange
of letters with Kell Robertson in Mailbox Boogie (1991).
Her poetry was included in the textbook anthology, Literature and Its
Writers, edited by Ann and Samuel Charters in 2010 and 2013. Her latest
collection was published in 2011 by Kamini Press in Sweden, The Measure of
Small Gratitudes.
[Updated November 2015: Additional information appears in Wanda Lea Brayton’s
comprehensive column at All Poetry:
Ann Menebroker: Information and Sources. Please see also Brayton’s tribute,
poem for Ann.]