Shel Graves' Sensorium

2023 Gratitude Poem: More Grateful Than Healing Survival Feet Sunflowers Donkeys Puzzle the Donkey Nooch Grace under pressure Volunteers Abundance Kinship Kindness Sam Mary Shelley Lily Tish Time with Sam Walks along the Seine Friends Ideas Inspiration A retirement party Movie with friends Thrive Community Like-minded people Aimee Bonnie Beverly Jen Lily’s sweet sounds of contentment Expressions of love Flowers Silence Safety Water Tarot cards Beauty Bed The Compassion Consortium  Catskill Animal Sanctuary Bear Mountain State Park Sunlight Summer Confidence Sarah A dog settled into a chew Heart center Moss France Vacation Calming breath  People’s appreciation My cohort The servers The cooks Pie Books Vegetables Death  Bunnies Oak trees Acorns Optimism Deer Light Dreams  Drag queens Flamboyance Passion Mallard ducks Swimming Trees Pacific Madrona ( the tree is sacred ) Fruit trees Mason bees The rising sun  A safe place to land In the dog par...

Bad Poem: Invisible Oppression For Kassandra  A Sitka black-tail deer lifts her intelligent Kuan Yin head,  Furred lips touch an Arkansas Black, teeth press firm, tongue sweet,  Here within a glorious fall of fields and forest with two fawns,  A woodsy poem sudden, pearled, with mermaid depths, appears. Beautiful.  This is a good poem. Complex in rhyme and meter,  It receives accolades. It wins awards. Five stars.  It gets published in journals with woodsy names.  This poem touches your soul with its genius. It does!  Deep in the well the lotus blossom blooms greyscale,  The green flop of disgust waits below as well,  Lowering her head, the dragonwell weeps and sighs,  Interesting flames well-sizzled, the drizzle collapses us all.  Bad poem! Hideous. Unworthy and unreadable.  Every one agrees it has no merit, aggressively. The critics!  The writer should stick to novels. Better press releases.  Better a livi...

Taste: dry cider chai and pumpkin; soy curl wrap Sound: the snap of the kettle; Small Things Often Smell: anise Sight: Pasado’s in November the bright leaves, the crisp sunlight, the sheep Touch: chewy Intellect, ideas, and dreams: the lotus blossom in the dark well Grateful for: thrive, community, like-minded people