A Literary Journal
I read the shortest poems first
like I clipped the shortest news stories
for current events class in elementary school
After reading one short story
about an abusive upbringing
told from the perspective of the abuser
I dreamt about a drone
It followed a couple
who tried to hide their animosity
He shoved her boots under a trailer
and yanked her out of view
The next morning my body
bore a low-grade fever
like sap rising and goldfinch hovering
waiting for a turn at the feeder
Spring flowers bloom in clockwork order
But I’ve seen this all before, I thought
I’ve convinced myself
I have nothing more to write
So I watch the birds
The red cardinal
is the only one that knows
I’m watching it from the window
The finches are easily swayed with thistle
and squirrels try to invade
Loose ends are closer together
My eyes can barely guide
worn thread through a needle
The news stories are longer now
and harder to explain
I don’t know what to say
But I’m proud of my photograph
that graces the journal’s front cover
My poem about AI
is on the last page
It says: Let robots cure cancer
and climate change
But don’t let them claim
or plagiarize artists
Don’t let the poets
Become jukebox nostalgics
Now I scour the news
and read the long stories
They come in like ticker-tape
breaking all normalcy
I want to open what’s closed
and hold the truth together
I want to convince myself
that poems still matter
_________Colleen Redman / Poets and Storytellers United/ dVerse Poets Pub
April 18th, 2025 2:33 am
I’m convinced poems do still matter, and that we can still tell the difference between authenticity and AI.
Our voices are still needed, even if we feel they are not sufficiently heard. If we stay silent, they won’t be heard at all! I’m afraid I can too seldom summon up words to express my horror at many situations in the world today, but perhaps it also matters to remind each other of the good which still exists. And let’s not forget, we need to write for our own sakes too; it’s a vocation, and we’re not fully alive if we ignore it. (I think you know all this, really … and I do understand how hard it is in these times not to despair.)
April 18th, 2025 7:33 am
Poems are an arrangement of words and words have potential no matter what form they take. But I’m no bot or robot and I don’t want AI speaking for me.
April 18th, 2025 9:01 am
Yes, poetry is the remedy. I’ve been in a writer’s dry spell and feelings around the world events and what’s happening to our country take their toll. When I feel I’m done writing poetry and I don’t know how to do it, I write about how it feels to not write. It’s not like poets receive much validation or compensation, which sometimes makes me wonder when I’m down why I do it and who needs or wants it. Receiving this regional journal was a bright spot.
April 18th, 2025 9:27 am
Love, Love all your poems and they so matter for you and the world who reads them! You will go down in History as one of the great poets of OUR TIME! We will always need poets for music as well!
I also Love, love the picture your eyes see life and then you write about it! I’m so Happy to be part of your Blood! I bet the angels ( our family ) in heaven our proud and thankful as well!!
April 18th, 2025 7:21 pm
I think it is in our nature to create, so there will always be a part of humanity moved to express itself in words. Poetry matters.
April 19th, 2025 10:52 pm
Love that last stanza.
April 25th, 2025 9:19 am
I am very much on your page with the conclusion, though I hope AI can be used to reasearch topics we use in our poetry.
April 25th, 2025 9:25 am
It is interesting how what we read and dream affects us physically as well. Congratulations on being include in the Literary Journal. I love the cover photo. Well done!
April 25th, 2025 12:56 pm
Poems do matter…..at the very last, to the writer. Spilling out feelings, reflections, ideas; spinning alternative realities to what we are currently facing.
But also, I do believe they matter to many who choose to read. They offer a different “landscape” from our own; a different point of view. And at other times, they affirm what we are feeling.
“Let robots cure cancer
and climate change
But don’t let them claim
or plagiarize artists
Don’t let the poets
Become jukebox nostalgics”
LOVE these words!