“When power leads man toward arrogance, poetry reminds him of his limitations. When power narrows the area of man’s concern, poetry reminds him of the richness and diversity of existence. When power corrupts, poetry cleanses.” — John F. Kennedy
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Want to see it continue? Then please, send your poems to us and let the Whatcom Watch share them with our readership! Seriously, we really do want your roughly 25-line poems though length is by no means a deal-breaker; it’s how you use those lines. Send your poems to: poetry@whatcomwatch.org and let’s make magic happen.
- Subject matter is unlimited, but poetry featuring or specific to Whatcom County and issues addressed by Whatcom Watch (government, the environment and media) will likely get first preference.
- Please keep it to around 25 lines; otherwise, we might have to edit your work to fit. Don’t make yourself unprintable.
- Send poems and your short, two- or three-sentence bios as a word document attachment to poetry@whatcomwatch.org.
- The deadline is the first day of the month.
- Please understand that acceptance and final appearance of pieces are subject to space constraints and editorial requirements. By submitting, authors give Whatcom Watch permission for one-time publication rights in the paper and electronic editions.
Boris Schleinkofer, poetrywatch editor
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Artwork by Hilary Cole
Stains
by Marie Eaton
After a day in the garden,
not even the lava soap bar
can get the dirt out from under my fingernails.
I know I should wear gloves,
but weeding around those tender shoots
requires tactile attention
to pull just the weed without
catching the lettuce seedling
or the small radish.
I apologize to dandelions and buttercup,
bright yellow beauties in some other place,
but in this garden, weeds.
So please forgive these stains,
my badge of a day’s honest labor
tilling and mulching.
I share the dirt with the red worms
There’s enough for all.
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Marie Eaton is retired faculty from Fairhaven College at WWU. She has published four volumes of poems — “Be Here Now,” “What Falls Away Is Always,” “Following the Line” and “Liquid Moon.”
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BESOTTED
by Guna Moran
From the market I bought
a huge pile of happiness rather than sadness
for you
Life
I did not know about
your intimacy with sadness
If sadness was so dear to your heart
never would I have sought happiness
What sadness are you so besotted with
Life
You had no compulsion to keep
happiness away
Why do you need sorrows
if sorrows are not deeply hurt
by the plight of happiness
If happiness is slighted by you
your beloved sadness will lose all bliss
Knowing full well
why have you buddied up
with sadness
that I couldn’t make out
Life
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Translated from Assamese language into English by Nirendra Nath Thakuria
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Guna Moran is an internationally acclaimed Assamese poet and book reviewer. His poems are published in more than 200 hundred international magazines, journals, webzines, blogs, newspapers, anthologies including Indian Literature, Indian Poetry Review, Indian Review, Indian Periodical , Muse India etc. He has won Creator Of Justice Award 2020 by International Human Right Art Festival and got a chance for reading poetry in Frankfurt Book Fair 2020 ( Digital edition). His poems have already been translated into thirty languages. He has published three poetry books to his credit.
