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Listen to Ellen reciting poetry.
Jam Today
“The rule is, jam tomorrow and jam yesterday – but never jam today.” White Queen to Alice, Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, by Lewis Carroll.
Last season’s
peach and gooseberry
sweet-tart on the tongue
spread on toast, muffins,
bagel with raisins
and cinnamon –
spice of the sabbath
now her body is jamming
itself, cells stuck and clogged
blocking the vital
spring again
flowers jam in the garden,
jazz musicians gone wild,
cacophony of tulips
trill of daffodil
violin tones of violets
and weeping redbud,
one gooseberry bush
bursting into flower
soft fruit
longing
to be picked.
Ellen S. Jaffe, 2016
for Sharon H. Nelson (2 January 1948 – 12 June 2016)
published in Persimmon Tree, Summer 2017
http://www.persimmontree.org/v2/summer-2017/international-poets/-
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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Written on the Body #33, March 8, 2021: International Women’s Day
A short comment on International Women’s Day: a time to celebrate our minds, spirits, emotions, and bodies; rejoice in our achievements (those that have earned fame, and the small achievements and successes of everyday life, love, and work); mourn those … continue reading
Written on the Body, #32, March 6, 2021: Some Uncertainty Resolved, Celebrating Black History, and Some Good Points for Uncertainty
To continue the medical news from the last blog, the doctors have decided NOT to do a second course of radiation at this time, basically because I am not sick enough. So this is good news. After a thorough review, … continue reading
Written on the Body #31, Feb. 17, 2021: Hope and Uncertainty
Hello. sorry it has been a while since I wrote. As a friend of mine once remarked, “things have been moving at the speed of darkness.”
February is a short month, but with many holidays. February 2 is “groundhog day,” … continue reading
Written on the Body, #30: January 18, 2021, The Winter of Discontent
Welcome to the New Year! Or is this just 2020 continued?
A friend who follows my blog asked why I hadn’t written a comment right after the insurrection attempt in Washington D.C. on January 6. Or were we all left … continue reading
Written on the Body, #29: December 24, 2020: Light Returns
So it is Christmas Eve, just past Winter Solstice, Chanukah has come and gone (Dec. 10-17), and the new year is coming.
Beginning again — I started this on Christmas Eve, then got a case of fatigue — surprising, since … continue reading
Written On the Body, #28, November 24, 2020: November Highs and Lows
As Thomas Hood wrote in an often-quoted poem,
| No sun — no moon! No morn — no noon — No dawn — no dusk — no proper time of day. No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease, No comfortable feel in any member — No shade, no shine, no |
Written On the Body #27, October 28, 2020 — The Uncertainty Principle
In physics, the uncertainty principle — articulated by Werner Heisenberg — states that we can know how fast something is going OR its exact location now, but NOT both at the same time. mataphorically, the uncertainty principle applies to all … continue reading
Written on the Body, #26, October 6, 2020 — Another Poem
I’m writing this soon after the previous post, but I want to share a wonderful reason to be thankful this (Canadian) Thanksgiving. I saw my oncologist this morning, and he is very pleased with the progress I am making with … continue reading
Written on the Body #25, October 2, 2020 — Poem for the Times
We have passed Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and two harvest festivals are approaching: Sukkot, the Jewish festival, on Oct. 2-4, and Thanksgiving in Canada on Oct. 12. With the planet in such chaos from wildfires, hurricanes, extinctions of … continue reading
Written on the Body, #24 — September 10, 2020: Anniversaries and Changes
September already! The summer has “hurried slowly” (in Margaret Laurence’s words) past.
But I want to talk about anniversaries of events that happened right at the end of August — August 31 — and a few other times throughout the … continue reading