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Writer of the Month

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This month we are pleased to feature Edward J. Rielly. He has been contributing to Shemom since 2009 and has always been a pleasure to work with. We both share a deep appreciation for the farming life which he writes about below.

Edward Rielly lives in Westbrook, Maine, with his wife, Jeanne, and near their children and grandchildren.  He was recently named professor emeritus at Saint Joseph’s College after retiring following forty years in the college’s English Department.  He has published approximately thirty books, including volumes of poetry, a memoir, biographies, studies of popular culture, and children’s picture books.  His recent books include Answers Instead: A Life in Haiku (winner of the Mildred Kanterman Merit Book Award given annually by the Haiku Society of America), the children’s picture book Spring Rain Winter Snow, the memoir Bread Pudding and Other Memories: A Boyhood on the Farm, and The Sister Fidelma Mysteries: Essays on the Historical Novels of Peter Tremayne (edited with David Robert Wooten).  His poems have appeared in several issues of Shemom.  He is currently working on How They Led, a book about Native American women leaders.

The Cow Path

barbed wire fence—
cow watching me,
my pants leg snagged

lead cow  .  .  .
other cows single file
before Dad and me

Mounds bar wrapper
on the cow path
long after milking

after the farm sale
stillness of the stanchions  . .  .
my father’s silence

*
smell of alfalfa . . .
small boy at the fence
watching his father

*

waiting for rain—
the toe of my shoe
nudging dirt

*

inside
out of the rain
watching the rain

*

cracking a ball
against the barn wall
the boy imagining
crowds cheering, applauding
his every perfect play

*

old back porch—
in faded red concrete
a small handprint

*

young granddaughter . . . .
we sit on a green blanket
moving toy cows

*

grandchildren’s visit
each hand reaching
into the cookie jar

*

scraping the bottoms
of burned cookies . . .
granddaughter’s smile

*

holding my hand
granddaughter leads me
into her world

*

child’s coat
unzippered
she licks snow
from two mittens,
one red, one green

*

small-town parade:
granddaughter’s head bobs
in and out of view

*

spring sunshine—
the child’s hand searching
my shirt pocket

*

October moon:
at my door a little ghost
goes “boo!”

*

our wedding cake–
the last saved piece
several freezers ago

Writer of the Month

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This month we feature ayaz daryl nielsen who is the editor of bear creek haiku and has been contributing to Shemom since 2008. During this time we have collaborated on several pieces together and become good friends across the miles. He has published several books of haiku (Tumbleweeds Still Tumbling, Concentric Penumbras of the Heart, and Window Left Open) and an anthology with the writers of bear creek; he was kind enough to include my work in that publication.

ayaz daryl nielsen was born in Valentine, Nebraska, attended schools in Minnesota and Wisconsin, has lived in Monterrey, Mexico and Bonn, Germany, and now lives in Longmont, Colorado with his beloved wife, Judith.  A veteran, former hospice nurse, and ex-roughneck (as on oil rigs), he has been editor of the print publication bear creek haiku for over 30 years, and over 130 issues.  His poetry has been published worldwide, including senryu chosen in 2010 and 2012 as “best of year” by the Irish Haiku Association.

ayaz can be found online at bear creek haiku—poetry, poems and info bear creek haiku

Grandfather

Your shovel in my hands
after the garden vegetables
have all been harvested.

*

great-grandfather’s diary –
upon the first page a lock of
great-grandmother’s hair

*

removing the carpet
from the homestead’s oak floor
great-grandfather’s footsteps

*

not quite an adult
our youngest, a Marine
not quite a boy

*

yellow, red and white
wild climbing roses –
formal black dresses

*

beyond my
broken car
honeybees upon cherry blossoms

*

in the maple above
this flat tire
crow being crow

*

a wrecker
towing a wrecker
from a wreck

*

lovely names
nightingale and robin
folks call me Joe

*

As I sit
in silence,
the taste of
a smile.

*

embarrassed our hammock gossips

Friday Quote

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Some of us have great runways already built for us. If you have one, take off. But if you don’t have one, realize it is your responsibility to grab a shovel and build one for yourself and for those who will follow after you.

Amelia Earhart