Three Poems By Martha Deed

6

She was not old
not young either
but smart, I thought ‒
nominated for a Pushcart Prize
looking forward to retirement
and having more time
to devote to writing ‒
until ‒ this I did not know ‒
she put off her health care
until she finished her poems
and now ‒  finished with both.
Dead.  Today her porch sale
writes her obituary.

22

if you don't like today's politics ‒
passive-aggressive assault
sharpened to a stalemate ‒	 
you need only to ask why
any of it should surprise you
like the women and children
who stayed aboard the Mayflower
while the men pillaged corn at Truro 
pretended the treasure was abandoned
and filled their starving bellies
with the theft.

54

so many trees down in the woods
you, too			 

a rising tide of climate change
left them standing, starved
waiting for that wind	 					

the wind took them in the night
the loss is clear today		 

I see the cars gliding by on icy roads
on the far side of the canal
those broken trees have cleared the view	 

I see the broken trees
but you

When Martha Deed turned 65 she wrote a twisted autobiography of 65 linked poems 65 words each. Peter Ganick published the result in his chapbook series: 65 x 65 (small chapbook project, 2006). For 80, she has invented another form: 80 syllables. The three submitted poems are from this 80 x 80 series. Her poetry collections, Climate Change (2014) and Under the Rock (2019) both published by FootHills Publishing. Seven chapbooks, dozens of single poems, two Pushcart Nominations.