Three Poems – Naomi Bindman

Why write when it’s all been done before?

We do it because we must.
Because we are inspired
by love or moved by sorrow,
the beauty of the world,
toasters or tassels of corn,
feelings too strong to
express any. other. way.
and too big to hold alone
so we have to let go.
We do it because this
is how we play, and how
we pray, because each day
dawns different, each sun
sets a fresh gift.
Because imagination
is the air we breathe
and words are water
quenching thirsty souls.
We do it because creating
makes us human and
opens us to the divine.

Found Poem: Texting with my Brother

I’m on the subway,
the whole thing is a
fashion show.
Parade of cuteness.
I am not chic to
beat the band.
Boy do we buy.
Manhattan is not
my thing. Never
was. In my
neighborhood I see
trees, sky, the sea
and I am okay. Not
here. And then
there is the
pandemic.
Homelessness.

Sounds like a poem.

Okay now you have
poetry on the brain.
But it does.

lament

The new spotted fawn’s
tiny foot—two pointed
black toenails unmarred by
any stone or stumble—severed
at the ankle, rests pristine
on bloodless snow.

Nestled beside her mother’s
warm flank, tucked within
their bed of soft brush, sheltered
from the biting wind, she
withstood the cold, but
not the coyotes.

Does her helpless mother
now cry out in sorrow?
Her heart breaking
like mine?

An award-winning educator who lives in Vermont, Naomi Bindman‘s articles, essays, and poetry have appeared in anthologies, VTDigger, Mothering, So to Speak, Friends Journal, Consilience Journal, Import Sky Journal, and El Portal Literary Journal, among others. Naomi has been a featured reader in Albany’s Poets in the Park, and Calling All Poets (March 2023). She has received grants from the Vermont Arts Council and is on the faculty of the Vermont State Colleges. Naomi’s memoir, You’re the Words I Sing: A Memoir of Song, Sorrow, and Solace, tells the story of her journey back to life performing the songs of her daughter, Ellen, who lost her life in a car crash at the age of seventeen.