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Gallery of Words
Please enjoy a taste of some of the words and wonders written by Marie Whitman. Visit the Gallery often as poems are rotated periodically.

Why Dance
By Marie Whitman

 
…to commune and stir
Loosen the heavens
Partner with Spirit
We bang our feet to the land
 
We are soldiers leaping
With bayonet legs battling
Through storms we glide
Through demons we slice

With an army of arms
We pound peace into this air
 
We worship and wail
Wordless and wonderful
Messages moving
Dances delivering

Torsos tossing secrets
Hips swaying signals
Heels stomping stories
Shoulders singing psalms
 
Sometimes we slide
Hunched with gashes
Sometimes we twirl
Spun in rapture
Sometimes we soar
Whirled in whispers
 
Hearing as we go
Our shapes shifting
We decode
A language of Love
That cannot lie…Silent
 
Swaying intercessors
Moving for fathers and sisters
Moving for forests and water
Moving for nations and mothers
One for another

We must move.


You Are The Blue
By Marie Whitman


We think
We know
Life should be long
Some of my favorite songs
Are just three and a half minutes
Thank you for your visit
Even for a short dance
Your melody stays
With me
I hum
While driving
While scheduling and surviving
I sing
Remembering
You in my cells
You’re in the church bells now
You are the blue
Grackle who just landed at my feet
With wings
That’s you
Bringing the breeze right to me
Where I sit
So still
I say thank you.


Alchemy
By Marie Whitman

Tonight, with a stillness
Humming my tune
I will be praying
Fall down at your feet

Tonight, I mean business
Under this moon
I will be laying
All down at your feet

Losing
It all in the fire
Now
There's no going back
Losing
It all in the fire
Knowing that I
Lit the match

Light the flame
I'm like the flame
I dance and howl and turn

Ready to burn
Ready to burn


Go Fish
By Marie Whitman
(Poem written "on-demand" at the Miami Book Fair International for a little girl whose goldfish had died..)

Always remember your gaze
Giving me one eye
Then the other
My flowing, floating friend
Swimming sister
Or...were you my brother?

Either way, I can say
 I'm missing
Kissed you'd give me
Through the glass
You'd dive and dip
I'd often ponder:  Do fish have lips?

Now I wonder
What your after-life brings
Are you my fish angel

And how do you swim with wings?


Memorial Day
By Marie Whitman


We embark on this day
Parks and parties
We get away
Rest
Retreat
Recreation
A perfect day for a vacation
Let’s not leave


Our memory behind
Backyard barbecues
Beach sunsets
Family-sized
Frolicking
Hot-dog buns
Cutting grass
Under the sun

One Nation, under God, with liberty
Have you seen her lately
This monumental lady
Lamenting with her torch song

And Justice
Her star-spangled sister
Blindfolded and holding scales
Holding space for the weight
Of all the folded
Uniforms and flags
While our widowed hands
Hold our purple hearts

Let’s take more
Than a moment
Of silence
To give credence to the
Loss
Those who pledged
To give allegiance and their life
Toss
Your frisbees and baseballs and apple pie
In the sky
Sits the sun and his clouds right nearby
Making sure we remember
This day
Remember to pray while we play
Remember the fallen
Remember duty has called them
Home


She
By Marie Whitman


This Goddess graces me
With praise and
Poetic encouragement
She weaves words like nourishment
Heaven sent 
Meant to hold me
Like Grandma’s quilt

We do not compete
But instead, we dance barefeet
Holding
Hands that have carried
Both burdens and blessings
Because of this she knows
Her words are sacred seeds 
She chooses to sow life


I don’t fear her beauty
Because she shines through me
She is my mirror
Singular and strong
She fiercely sings my song
I reply with a chorus of her

She gives me permission 
Like a kiss on my cheek
Reminds me, my mission
I’ve only to speak it forth

She brushes...the hair from my eyes
She hushes...my cares become quiet
She will jump with me into fire
Knowing 
When we burn we are
Growing our glow
Whispers to me to let go

And we laugh while I shed
And we laugh while I shed
Becoming Light

We are women wearing
Hearts on sleeves
Lips and lashes
Scars and gashes 
Teeth-baring smiles
Heels pounding miles 
Brows perched above 
Eyes that see with Love
Tongues that savor 
The salt of a good cry 
Breasts that heave as
We breathe lullabies

We ignite while we soothe 
We ignite while we soothe 
The heart of the world

© COPYRIGHT MARIE WHITMAN  
2013 - 2021  AL​L RIGHTS RESERVED
  • HOME
  • Poetry With A Purpose
  • Programs for Youth
  • Poetry At Your Event
  • Poetry and Yoga
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  • Event Archive
  • About Marie Whitman
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