Author: Jane Patten

Message to the Muses

If I brought you the moon as a token Bit by bit, as tiny trinkets of love You’d tape it up – because it was broken And fasten it high for stars up above. If I could conjure the poets of old To sprinkle sweet sonnets into your eyes You would chide Shakespeare for being too …

Tribute

Tribute was published in Out Loud: A Year in Review 2017. Sometime between the October sunlight And the geese overhead at dusk, A little girl sat on the front porch step Fingering the stucco design on the wall. Her father was working on a car in yard, And she marveled that he was her daddy. His …

Tough Love

Love is Being brave enough to tell your own mother That Oriental refers to an object And not a person, It’s also being bold enough say that Just because she didn’t know Doesn’t mean she’s too old to learn, Love is also being that mother Who tells her husband that it’s time he realized that Oriental …

Cucumber Summer

Every morning at eight We braved bees upon yellow flowers, Learning soon that bees don’t sting when distracted by need. But our need was as great: money to spend, to be frivolous for once. We two kids would make a thousand bucks—or maybe just a hundred each So we’d know the thrill of plenty just for …

Dear John

Dear John was published in Out Loud: A Year in Review 2017. Dear John, I never could imagine That we were meant to be: Your dark humor and your anger Were a little much for me. Though you always spoke Of giving peace a chance I suspect your sweetness Would surrender to your rants. Yes, you …