A Rift in Harmony

 If anything, this life has taught me the more things change, the more they remain the same.

A Rift in Harmony

The buzz of tonight's open air concert

recalls the long ago shiver of Woodstock

glimpsed from a half a continent away.

Music and images from a rolling screen

mingled with the sounds of a newborn,

the misgivings of her young Republican father.

Snatches of "White Rabbit" and "Pinball Wizard,"

the psychedelic rock of Jimi Hendrix

and his "Star Spangled Banner" rode the airwaves,

backdrop for Vietnam and Civil Rights.

Generational tsunamis on the coasts but a reason

for channel changing in our heartland apartment.

Marilyn Aschoff Mellor 

Chief Complaint: Blurry Vision

A few weeks ago I attended a family reunion of sorts in Phoenix where I was reminded that a nephew's wife contends with multiple sclerosis on a daily basis. MS primarily affects adults but, occasionally, adult diseases present to Pediatric ERs.

Chief Complaint: Blurry Vision

The slender teen opens

her closed right eye

and sends the orbit wandering,

similar to her own weaving walk

for the past two weeks.

A head scan reveals cannonballs

scattered on the battlefield of her brain.

Not tumors but damage

from the arsenal of multiple sclerosis,

protective coating stripped

from nerves, leaving them as vulnerable

as the unsteady adolescent before me,

struggling to focus.

Marilyn Aschoff Mellor

Mind the Clutch

Sometimes the ride is smooth, sometimes rough. It's not unusual that normal wear and tear call for readjustments.

Mind the Clutch

Random stretches of misfires,

like an engine out of sync, ping

our relationship.

Sometimes we flare, talking past

each other like cars revving

their engines, ready to burn rubber.

Sometimes we stall, walk away

fuming, struggle to recalibrate.

Mechanics 101: Assess the problem,

uncross wires of communication,

and tinker.

Even the touchiest Jaguar responds

to a gentle touch.

Marilyn Aschoff Mellor

Seduction

My grandson is currently at an Air Force ROTC camp in Hattiesburg, MS. His first taste of military life. He has one year of college left before he leaves to serve full time. I wrote this last fall but it feels right to post it now.

Seduction

Stripes of sunbeam pierce window mornings.

Birches rustle, stretching limbs and flicking tresses.

Loons and lily pads unfold to wisps of daylight.

Autumn's oblivion blushes a maple's brow.

The hum of a small plane, the song of a Siren,

swells, promising the sky. And miles away

my grown grandson veers towards the Air Force.

Marilyn Aschoff Mellor

A Prayer in the Time of COVID

A year ago I came across a photo taken in pre-COVID times of people delighted to be cooling off in New York City, standing among spraying jets of water. This poem, as with all Found Poetry, is from words reframed and given new meaning. They come from the sidebar accompanying the photograph. And with COVID starting to ease, the prayer just might be attainable.

A Prayer in the Time of COVID

                 A Found Poem, Independence Day,

                 Amy Weiss-Meyer, The Atlantic,

                 July/August 2020

Messiah,

Bring back the jubilant highs

of carefree camera shots.

The honored tradition of standing

with strangers:

                        - the homeless,

                 the shirtless, the drenched -

those cooling-off atop fountain grates

                    in city parks.

Recall the easy sociability of others

orbiting the perimeter of urban life,

the playful water, the palpable pleasure.

Frame me joyful on a summer's night.

Marilyn Aschoff Mellor