Four and Twenty by Jeanine Stevens

Favorite game: hide between fresh laundered sheets

and starched table cloths, fragrant, sun filled.

Windy days all the better, chaotic,

grass stains on my pinafore.

Certain my mother can’t see me:

             swing, weave, spin.

How could she miss the skinny legs and scabby knees? 

Convinced I was invisible,

thought about the maid in the garden hanging

clothes, a black bird snipping off her nose? 

Did one of four and twenty flee,

just missed being baked in a crusty shell?

Blackbirds, always in the alleyway

pecking pink carrion. 

Now, when I see a rare clothesline, I pause

admire the living, the care given,

the personal on pegs.







Jeanine Stevens is a poet and visual artist. Author of Limberlost and Inheritor (Future Cycle Press), and Sailing on Milkweed (Cherry Grove Collections). Winner of the McGuffin Poet Hunt and the Ekphrasis Prize. Her poems have appeared widely in journals in the United States and the UK.

Two Poems by Jeanine Stevens

Canterbury

Wind blows stiff from the White Cliffs. 

Along the road, rape seed fields 

gleam florescent, like Van Gogh’s colors 

in his warm weather mania. 

First, I visit the Cloisters, 

protected from swift gusts, 

then downstairs to the shadowy

11^th century Crypt and sullen dust, 

a place for quiet, prayer and reflection. 

I brought my travelers lamp (really just 

a tiny book light from Blackwell’s).

On ornate carvings I read 

some good history and some bad. 

Of a sudden, walls reverberate, earth heaves, 

sound lodges in my bones. 

A quake? No, darker, 

like a rumbling night mission. 

Is it because I’m here with no real intent?

Someone gives a small cry. 

I hurry upstairs to diffused light—  

a vast choir on temporary bleachers 

rehearses the Verdi “Requiem.”

                                                    V-E Day, 2015 

Under the San Gabriel’s: A California Ghazal

A dry October. Sitting by the hotel pool, fan palms stand 

stalwart as if rooted in iron, yet a cool off-shore breeze. 

I remember banana trees ravaged by the Santa Ana’s,

leaves startled, split, then separated into prophecies.

Two girls in string bikinis talk of Las Vegas and college. 

One says the name of her black toenail polish –“Jaguar.”

Air fills with the scent of coconut oil. Light on their feet,

I admire the easy way they spring from bright lounge chairs.

Golden lilies and creamy yucca bring warmth and beauty. 

The handsome man in the turban says his name is Nick.

Camphor trees near the pool seem unnatural.

Someone says, “The Red Sox will play in The World Series.”

At the reunion yesterday, Ralph flew in from Hawaii, hibiscus 

shirt and pukka shells. He remembered me from English 1-A.

Evening, violet hills obscure in haze, the fountain spews 

blue and orange lights, white tents hoisted for a wedding.

Even in overcast and smog, beauty can be measured,

the milky Star Jasmine twining, crimson parrots flit of wing.

Jeanine Stevens, Sacramento, California is interested in brief moments that may find their way into a poem. The ragged squirrel by the side of the road, green figs on a white plate, a sudden burst of melody, the cricket's song. Besides writing, Jeanine enjoys Tai Chi, collage and Romanian folk dance.  

Metropolitan by Jeanine Stevens

It was important then to be tasteful,

mirrored tiles, gold streaked 

or gray smoked, a popular item.




Used extensively as panels

on dining room walls, 

a touch of elegance, 

1970’s version of savoir faire.




Friends hosted a dinner party,

game hens, the stuffing rich

with caraway seeds and brown rice. 

I glanced at our images. 




Mirrors obscured faces, difficult 

to see intimate interactions. 

We talked through fog.




Some would think the little squared 

reflections a source of comfort, 

instead the surface 

appeared impenetrable.




I watched the clock and noticed

puffy black stars emerged 

from a gold flecked ceiling. 






















Jeanine Stevens has three Pushcart Nominations, and was the 2013 winner of The Macguffin Poet Hunt for her poem "New Delhi," judged by Philip Levine. Her work has appeared in Poet Lore, South Dakota Review, Valparaiso Poetry Journal and Ekphrasis. She is the author of "Sailing on Milkweed."

Interview w/ Poet Jeanine Stevens

1. Who or what inspired you to write poetry?

So many factors go into one becoming a writer and poet. I think developing an ear for rhythm is important whether one writes in form or free verse. My parents were more singers than readers. Bedtime stories were songs. My grammar school was named after the Indiana state poet, so we had poetry at most school assemblies. The sign over the door of the library read, “There is no frigate like a book.” (Emily D.) I was impressed when a 6^th grade cousin’s regular reading list included a book of poetry, The Poet’s Craft. It was blue and had a silver Pegasus on the cover. She eventually gave it to me. My aunt read Emerson and my grandfather read Hugo and Twain. I always liked to write and would help friends with term papers. As a teen, my first poetry purchase was a double set of Edna St. Vincent Millay’s lyrics and sonnets. In college, a favorite course was English Literature, the Romantic Period. Also, I remember a poem by Amy Lowell, “Patterns,” as noteworthy because of her effective use of repetitions.

  

2. Do you have favorite place to write?

I prefer to write out-of-doors when possible, the parkway, the woods, Lake Tahoe. Usually though, I prop myself up in bed for first drafts handwritten on legal pads. On occasion I write with a group that has been meeting for twenty years. There is a different kind of energy when you sit next to someone whose mind is whirring away. Recently I started writing with St. Mark’s Scribes. We do brief meditations which have a different effect on my writing. For revisions, I clear the dining room table for a week or two and establish “poetry central.”  I find I can also revise in fairly noisy coffee shops. 

3. Who are your favorite poets, alive or deceased?

Favorite poets have changed over time.  When I first started reading and writing poems it was Mary Oliver, Gary Snyder, John Haines, David Young.

Presently: Denise Levertov, Jane Hirshfield, Anne Carson, Marie Ponsot, Wislawa Szymborska.  William Wordsworth (always), John Keats (always), Charles Simic, George Oppen, Eugenio Montale and the French poets.

  

4. What five words best describes your personality.

Curious, serious, social, sometimes impatient, introvert/extrovert. (I score right in the middle on the Myers-Briggs.) 

5. Other than writing, what else do you love to do?

I enjoy walking, seeing things up close and have written many walking poems. I think of Rita Dove’s line of observation: “the pinched armor of a vanished cricket.” I also enjoy Romanian folk dance. Tai Chi is essential for me, both for exercise and concentration. We are currently using Chinese fans with our movements and have progressed on to the sword. Any time I can travel to the coast or the mountains is a good day for me. In the past few years I have traveled to Turkey, Alaska and Italy. Travel definitely opens up new ideas. 

6. What are your current, and/or next projects?

I just completed a small chapbook of poems with Asian themes, Needle in the Sea. I’m in the process of completing two full collections, one based on French themes and the work of Simone de Bouvier, and another based on ecstasy in everyday life.

Inland Whales by Jeanine Stevens

There is no snow in the
mountains in summer. Rumi

He hasn’t seen the frozen streak
down Lake Tenaya,
or the deep gash creviced
in the white cross on Mt. Tallac.
He only knows deserts,
date palms and oasis stops.
That is why I’ve invited him
to the Sierras where he
will see coolest streams
run uphill and granite boulders
stand, stout as inland whales.
He can come with me
to twin lakes in desolation,
home of martin, fox and bear.
And when he returns
to Asia, he may or may not
choose to re-write his verse.

Jeanine Stevens has three Pushcart Nominations, and was the 2013 winner of The Macguffin Poet Hunt for her poem "New Delhi," judged by Philip Levine. Her work has appeared in Poet Lore, South Dakota Review, Valparaiso Poetry Journal and Ekphrasis. She is the author of "Sailing on Milkweed."

Ghazal on Waiting by Jeanine Stevens

I ponder and squirrel away fatuous thoughts, decide to wait.

I know the danger that comes from indecision, still choose to wait.

Snow fell in South Texas last Christmas. A lacy shawl wraps a decrepit

sod house. Should we earthquake-proof the Alamo or decide to wait?

Enduring icons: Barbie in miniskirt with poodle, and a bottle of Coke.

A crisp white summer, perch in the sunlight, a cool porch in wait.

Garden silhouettes under glass pressed on handmade paper.

Faded letters from the front, unopened, unanswered, refuse to wait.

Artists gather in the morning. Bagels, cream cheese and berries.

Raw boxes for decoupage, blank cards for verse, content to wait.

Jeanine Stevens has three Pushcart Nominations, and was the 2013 winner of The Macguffin Poet Hunt for her poem "New Delhi," judged by Philip Levine. Her work has appeared in Poet Lore, South Dakota Review, Valparaiso Poetry Journal and Ekphrasis. She is the author of "Sailing on Milkweed."

Tattoo [for my students] by Jeanine Stevens

Because the heart is not heard

gold butterflies

rest on a shoulder.

 

Because joy is not felt

black eagle’s wings

strain taut back muscles.

 

Because the mind is not clear

bluebonnets

weave tendrils at the hairline.

 

Because the eye is uncertain

white tear shapes link bony wrists.

 

Because the ear cannot hear

narrow feathers

creep from under the collar.

 

Because the voice cannot speak

red checkered hearts

skip down the lifeline.

Jeanine Stevens has three Pushcart Nominations, and was the 2013 winner of The Macguffin Poet Hunt for her poem "New Delhi," judged by Philip Levine. Her work has appeared in Poet Lore, South Dakota Review, Valparaiso Poetry Journal and Ekphrasis. She is the author of "Sailing on Milkweed."