was looking for a trumpet player to blow the muted notes of a poem found a dog
barking at crows instead and a forest of ponderosa pines and a few roundabouts
that went round and round dusty air pierces the breath two old indians sit in
the burned out gas station sucking down the heat across the street the river flows
a wild song it’s too hot for the birds john deere bales row after row of misery
beneath the house on the hill that stalks to the desert sail the trailers a rusted
red fender feathers the narrows between road and crooked horizon and all the
land is for sale the road curves like love horses eat at the trough unbridled
and lazy the foraging heat splinters like a dry fence post a hay bale of hell if you
don’t like how the willows weep
N. Portland
pocked like teenage skin the streets are tired creped and worn beneath the color of sky is grey is grey is grey is grey graffiti on old holman’s funeral home is painted over with the words no one’s home i know this street it lines the broken chunks of alleyways that lead
to the gossamer weeds near the heart sap gasps through a portal a branch heaves then breaks the rumble of pallets hull in the chipper an aria of morning joseph tells me he’s going to jump the bridge today like every other day the wheels on his cart catch the sidewalk hitch the cloistered sun lurches the bow hustling toward the sea
Mimi German is a poet and poetry activist who can be found advocating for unhoused people on the streets, reading her poetry as City Council testimony, or at times, in the wilderness of Oregon near Steens Mountain. Her first chapbook of poetry, Beneath the Gravel Weight of Stars, based on her life working with houseless people, came out on March 15, 2022.
Well, my books have arrived. And...
I received a review by my sister, Heather Mattioli who has over the years, understood my poetry better than I ever have. I used to call her to ask questions
about what I've written and she would respond in ways I never could have imagined.
And she was always right. My love to you, Heather. My deepest love and gratitude.
Please enjoy her review of Beneath the Gravel Weight of Stars.
"I hope you are prepared for the journey you are about to embark on in this
collection of poetry, Beneath the Gravel Weight of Stars, from Mimi German.
Her poetry demands a certain wanderlust from the reader as she takes you by
your hand, ears, eyes, and mind as you touch some of the souls she has so
carefully brought to your world.
The journey begins with the first poem in this collection titled, 'The crossing.'
we brought along the street to experience the anonymity of the first soul trekking
namelessly through St. John's in the wet, desolate streets of Portland and we glimpse,
ever so briefly' as nature and abandonment intersect.
Once we move through this collection, we begin to notice that Mimi has placed
the reader in the poems too. In, 'The Other Side of the Coffee Shop Window,' the title
has already pointed out the 'otherness' that the writer requires you to notice and understand.
The imagery that is employed in this poem places the reader in the position of observer and
the observed. Looking out the window, 'lyrids stroke a paper fire' and the reader is left wondering
and knowing that the stars in the sky, 'the turn aways' and the 'crash of cosmic degrees' are
incorporated into all of us through nature.
Admittedly, it may be tempting to assume that this collection is only concerned with nature or houselessness and that would be a fine assumption but then we would be missing the whole picture. Mimi doesn't stop here though, this collection shines as she peels back the layers the meaning for a glimpse of our world as it truly appears. For example, in 'To Beggar' the opening line sets the tone for the poem, 'blueberries fall like dislodged stars' and we eat up the words that are dropped from Mimi's pen. The person in this poem is houseless, gathering what they need, all the while being ignored and then we are reminded that the beggar is nature and that is where Mimi's poetic genius comes into play.
This collection's last poem, 'He,' incorporates everything Mimi's poetry encompasses. The first line begins with, 'the fray floats the ground like an unhoused child,' and the ethereal blur of where nature, poetry, and the political merge. Make no mistake, Mimi German is a master of language and nature poetry but her absolute magic shines through when we glimpse at her political philosophy. She has taken her time and talent to write down the connection between three of the most important aspects of our world through this work. And now we hear, 'somewhere a broken violin slurs,' but it sounds like the stars and poetry."
The Flight of Arrows
---from Erotica and Longing During The Plague
i was born under the sign of the broken
arrows so far from wilderness that even
the word wilderness was long
removed from the lexicon of mice living
in little row houses on little streets
in my first days and months ensnared
on earth born outside of center and even
outside and beyond the edge
so far so that stars were
blankets and the daily hum
the night’s mare dangling my hair
beneath its cantering hooves
where was the scented snow-covered
fox, the trail beyond the bend
of grasses leading to the frozen
lake-filled mirrors of the sun
i was my own accomplice
in solitude and longing
touching the wings that span
the space, the sound
of the tock tock tocking
the arching metronome of day
that became the dark swan
of the late hours
i pull back the taught and tethered
string to break the quivering of the bow
the shroud of breath unwavering just
enough to pierce the heart
Poetry update. First, I'm loving this process. I've revised and re-ordered the poems
in the Collection more times than I can remember with the incredible help of my editor, Resa Alboher. My teacher, David, has the entire manuscript now and will be getting back to
me with notes and ideas on publishers to send to...
If you'd like to read women poets for international women's day, you're in the right place. Just scroll down my page and you'll find a few hundred poems. If you'd like to view women's art, please go to Amy's site at https://www.facebook.com/stellablu. If you'd like to see fabulous jewelry, please go to Pauline Panagiotou Schneider's site at https://www.facebook.com/Paulines-Jewelry-247793261964385/. Amy Rodriguez and Pauline Panagiotou Schneider are just a few of my most inspiring friends...the list is long. And the good news is that we are women for much longer than one day, so feel free to view our work any day of the year! Amy and Pauline's work is also for sale. Supporting women artists is always positive step in the direction of love.
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