Poems by David H. Rommereim
“Sounds
Underneath”
By David H. Rommereim
Hawk circles the
city with moonshine
Listening to a
conversation bubbling between
Mitochondria and
amphibia
Underneath a
torpid pond
Like the FM
radio
Their sound has
long steady waves
Offering
deep melodies in search of humus
Beyond the mirky
zone
Where place
meets purpose
Their music
becomes cimarron
Weaving through
the long sapien shadow
Where species
are housed in museums
After bitter
endings
She knew the
mystery of underneath
Because each
bubble joined a healing impulse
Lifting her gaze
to the wild
Eavesdropping
into the quiet power of bison
Staring into
whirlwind
While Gaia
instructs the human
To stand down
Her aggressive
patience blew the still
Hovering atop
the ponds
Reaching Hawk’s
glide above underneath
Embracing the
wind
Whirling through
sweetgrass
Singing her
fabric into earth
“Untitled”
By David H. Rommereim
Your
crystal color
Stokes
Life
into each cell
With
neighborly affection
You
embrace the other
Startling
the quiet
To
partner
With
beauty
That
has no need
Of
megaphone
Nor
mirror
Your
tactic for survival
Does
no harm
To
difference
Even
weeds flower
Stems
empower
A
garden
That
plays with the wind
Inhaling
the mystery
In
the time that remains
While
exhaling
The
misty rain
That
tickles underneath
Through
a rhythm
Of
worms
Who
teach each cell
How
to be
Alone
together
This poem is written through an experience with David Rothenberg (http://www.davidrothenberg.net) at Grinnell College, Grinnell Iowa. The event was sponsored by my brother John whose own music composition plays with the sounds from within the human body as one interacts with the mysterious surroundings and social underpinnings of one’s experience. David Rothenberg threw a hydrophone into a local pond. We listened to the sounds of life bubbling up. He then put together his clarinet and partnered with the sounds underneath making music together. The poem reminds me that humankind may survive if she returns her kindness to the earth, looks down, and remembers how to play with its holy mystery and partner with her sustaining gifts.
“Solastalgia”1
By
David H. Rommereim
The pulse saturates
With a frequency so high it enters the
human
Only through bewilderment and
uncertainty
My dog plays with It
Simultaneously wagging her tail and
barking
While discerning friend or foe
Intrigued by an intruder
On the other hand
Or with another ear
Pulse is pitched
On the back of the breeze
Whose breath cocoons a life
Weaving no yesterday
Nor tomorrow
While her threads fold a rhythm
Engineering the language of belonging
Simply by touch
The primordial inquietude becomes
inhuman
Leaning into the comfort pain needs without
ether
While earth’s exhale yearns for a
posture
To nurture the ones who have learned
To bark and wag
In moments without a timepiece
1. Solastalgia — A word developed by
Philosopher Glenn Albrecht, South Wales Australia. Coined in 2005. It was formed
by the combination of the Latin words sōlācium (comfort) and the Greek root -
algia (pain). Differing from homesickness,
solastalgia refers to the distress specifically caused by environmental change.
It refers to the pain/sickness caused by the loss or lack of solace;
existential distress caused by environmental change.
-
David H. Rommereim writes from the mountains of Whitefish, Montana relocating
after 3 ⅓ decades of serving as a Lutheran pastor and faith based community
organizer in New York City. He is a biblical storyteller intrigued with the
repair of the biosphere, religion, and politics through listening. He is
deepened by the political spirituality engaged in our age of Eco-Apocalypse.
Copyright©2020
by David H. Rommereim. All Rights Reserved.