Poems by Lisa Kemmerer
“Craving”
By Lisa Kemmerer
Melodious mountains muted,
magical mists marred—
a distinct downgrade
(caused by craving)—
a vermillion
blemish of blindness,
visibly veering to
vanquished.
“Sharing Space”
By Lisa Kemmerer
I watched you scoot a scurrying spider
onto
a scrap of paper,
into your protective palm,
then
across the hallway
to
rehome her
under
the protective cover
of
our colorful kitchen curtains.
You sheltered that bundle of being
as
we might once have tended
tender Bramble Cay melomys,
grazing quaggas,
trusting dodos,
gentle thylacines,
sleek Baiji dolphins,
gregarious passenger pigeons,
solitary black rhinos,
prehistoric Yangtze sturgeons,
eloquent dusky sparrows,
and
so many other persons
now
missing.
“Spinning”
By Lisa Kemmerer
On this patient yet punctual planet,
to
pluck and plunder
while
listing those lost
is
so much the same
as
a reckless game
of rosey-red Russian roulette.
- Internationally known for her focus on anymals, nature, and disempowered human beings in the field of ethics, professor emeritus Dr. Lisa Kemmerer is founder and director of the educational non-profit, Tapestry (vegantapestry.org). Kemmerer has authored many articles, anthology chapters, and books (http://lisakemmerer.com/publications.html), including Vegan Ethics: AMORE—5 Reasons to Choose Vegan; Animals and World Religions; Sister Species: Women, Animals, and Social Justice; Eating Earth: Environmental Ethics and Dietary Choice; and two 2023 poetry chapbooks with Finishingline Press, Affinity and Waterways. For more information, please visit her website.
Copyright©2023
by Lisa Kemmerer. All Rights Reserved.