Definition of Angel

The poets of Pacifica Assisted Living Center in Santa Fe New Mexico and poet Joanne Dwyer created definition of Angel on November 20th, 2013. Model poems that were used in the session include: “In beauty may I walk,” Navajo – translated by Jerome K Rothenberg; “A List of Praises,” Anne Porter (Abridged); “Perhaps the World Ends Here,” Joy Harjo; “Te Deum,” Charles Reznikoff and “The Waking,” Theodore Roethke

Dwyer write about the sessions, “The theme of the session (because of Thanksgiving approaching) was gratitude and appreciation. The last two lines of the poem “A List of Praises,” are:

And with this poem, a leaf on the vast flood, And with the angels in that other country.

Which led me to ask the residents their definition of angel and hence came an unexpected poem, not just about gratitude, but angels. And the beautiful story that Wilbur shared from WWII. Wilbur, who at first, did not want to stay for poetry…”

Definition of Angel

A dark woman in a white cloud
wearing beautiful clothes.

White cloud with her floating around.
I wouldn’t know what to say to her.

Angels are little children.

Angel = heaven.

I have met the equivalent on earth many times.

I had an experience with angels in Israel.
My parents had died.
Things needed to be done, that I could not do.
Two weeks without food.
Suddenly a very tall, but young woman -
she wasn’t quite like we are.
She radiated love. "Where are you going, my little one", she asked.
"I am trying to get back to my father", I replied.

An angel is an angel.

There are many angelic people in the world
who are not self-serving.

A being that is beautiful and angelic.

I don’t know how many years ago,
in the war in the Pacific,
in the marine corps,
going from island to island
chasing the Japanese off...
Well, angels, I talked with -
maybe it was with angels.
I said, please spare me
and it helped.

Info on Joanne Dwyer

You may read Dwyer's work on the Poetry Foundation website. For info on her book, Belle Laide published by Sarabande Books

Two New Poems

Screaming Under Water                   

I don’t like silence,

I like this.

Have the children been out today?

I love silence.

The orchid is lavender,

like the shirt of the aide.

Beautiful sounds –

I have a stack of cd’s and books,

I have nothing else.

Love makes a house a home.

I have loved

every person I have ever known.

It never goes away –

I never lose any of it.

The woman who screams under water

is in a lot of pain,

but not above the water.

If you wanted to join the Red Cross

you had to swim many laps

to prove your endurance.

I am a person who needs

a lot of time – I am a Buddhist

and I got this out of it.

The love is impressed through every letter.

One thing that could not be taken away:

imagination.

Could you close the window? –

I’m cold.

I want to be out of here.

Silence in the Storm

Silence can say more than speaking.

It can be more intense

and safer.

My godfather was an evangelist.

He used to say: that’s another star in your crown.

My mother once told me

to go to her bedroom,

but don’t touch the brush,

lay down on your stomach

and don’t move.

What crimes do three-year olds make?

None.

In a sports game I expect

to be bounced around like a ball.

Shoes used to be filled with straw for warmth.

A black orchid keeps Brenda Star alive.

Sometime’s silence is not enough.

Either the poet was battered,

or he did the battering.

I used to dream so often,

I don’t so much anymore –

I am kind of thankful for that.

Screaming Under Water and  Silence in the Storm were created in sessions in Santa Fe, New Mexico led by APP artist Joanne Dwyer working with the poets of Kingston and Rosemont  respectively.  The model poems Dwyer used included: “Silence” Billy Collins; “A Poem for S.” Jessica Greenbaum; “Don’t Tell Anyone” Tony Hoagland and “Home” Edgar Albert Guest. 

Dwyer writes of one of the sessions, " The atmosphere at can be quite chaotic as was this visit. It made it hard at times to talk above the volume. I was nervous, unsure of how this session would go and was relieved and greatly surprised (and pleased) that once I began reading the first poem the whole place hushed and a sense of quiet and peace ensued."