Poetry (including Haiku) of Peggy Heinrich

Bio for Peggy Heinrich

Books by Peggy Heinrich

FORWARD MOVING SHADOWS

A selection of poems:

for the first time
I find myself
alone
and yet . . .
winter sun

seaside café —
he refuses my offer
of vitamins,
says I'm interfering
with his death

today
missing him
I try to recall
one of our arguments
autumn chill

dropping 
the sweater I knit him
into the Goodwill bin . . .
a snow plow 
clears the road	

when did I cross 
the border from Alice
in Wonderland
into the world 
of Miss Havisham?

REVIEWS OF FORWARD MOVING SHADOWS

A MINEFIELD OF ETCETERAS

A sample poem:

MATCHES

My best friend in sixth grade
split a pair of paper matches 
down the middle 
then split the halves
making sure to keep the head 
intact

She set one upon the other
and lit them
they writhed against each other
entwined

She said
that's what men and women do
or did she say 
your parents?
I stared and felt my breathing stop

She said the woman lies
beneath the man and 
wraps her legs around him

In the movies, couples only hugged
or touched their lips together
their lips were always closed
their noses never bumped
they did nothing, nothing 
like these matches
nothing like she said

Back in my apartment
when no one else was home
I split many pairs of matches
rested them together
set each pair aflame
and watched 
unbelieving
scared

REVIEWS OF A MINEFIELD OF ETCETERAS

PEELING AN ORANGE

Sample poems:

a child on the beach
spooning sand in a bucket...
today the sea is still  

fresh sea breeze 
the mimosa he planted
tall enough to wave
	
frozen puddle
faces on an old front page
stare through ice

REVIEWS OF PEELING AN ORANGE

SHARING THE WOODS

Sample poems:

FOR ELLEN

My daughter is learning to drive
we sit together in the front seat
watching the road
I turn my head and stare at the curve
of her cheek    remembering

My daughter has returned from California
she tells me she is into screaming
she offers to teach me tantrums
I hear the screams of the mother
I hear the screams of the child

My daughter is trying to remember her birth
I tell her about the fear
ripping wrist straps from the table
clenching muscles to lock the dark tunnel
because I could not believe the miracle
of a melon slipping through a cat's eye
because I would miss a second heartbeat


ANSWERING MACHINE

If this is a personal call, press 1; 
if this is a business call, press 2. 
Thank you for pressing 1. 
If you are male, press 1; 
if you are female, press 2. 
Thank you for pressing 1. 
If you are heterosexual, press 1; 
if you are homosexual, press 2. 
Thank you for pressing 1. 
If you are a former lover, press 1; 
if you are not, press 2. 
Thank you for pressing 2. 
Please enter the first letter
of your astrological sign. 
You have pressed L.
If you are a Leo, press 1; 
if you are a Libra, please hang up now,
our signs are incompatible.



MOON GODDESS

A hawk taught her archery.
Drawing her bow in its beak
it pointed the way.  
She knows the secrets of moss 
and mushrooms; she calls 
each creature by name.
She runs, kicking dust in the eyes 
of a turtle, scattering hares.

Rooted like beech trees
women stare at the ground
blunting the song of the wind.
The one who raises her eyes to the moon
discovers the seed of her self;
her shoulders unwind like new fern.
She runs an inch above ground
braiding the wind with her song.

FORTY-FOUR FRECKLES, a story in rhyme for children 4-11

A book about twins with a message about differences and individuality that will have meaning for any one with a sibling or best friend.

Lizzy and Jenny were look-alike twins
with look-alike scowls and look-alike grins ...
The only way anyone knew who was who:
Jen wore red ribbons while Lizzy wore blue.

Identical twins Lizzy and Jenny look exactly alike-right down to having 22 freckles each! It seems, even to them, that they are exactly alike. Then their parents announce that they'll be moving from the city to the country. Liz is ecstatic and Jen is devastated by the news. For several weeks after the move, the twins go their separate ways, seeming to grow more and more different. Then one morning they bump into each other and notice ... they each still have 22 freckles. But they really are two different people — and they like it that way!

HAIGA-HAIKU

Poems:


In the tea house
stillness, except for steam
rising

So often this Spring
at this spot between hedgerows
I felt a cobweb break

In Mirror Lake
blue sky and a crow
cawing madly

The evening sun 
reflected in cracked windows
of the old farmhouse

Sun warms the leaf pile;
the wounded finch sits upright
-- flies away

I remember this cold wet grass;
how much I have traveled

Limp dragonfly
scooped from the swimming pool
dries and flies off

There, just ahead --
those woods once seemed
              so far ...

NON-FICTION —
THE SOUL OF FIRE: How Charcoal Changed the World

Everything you ever wanted to know about charcoal and may not have asked. Each one of its nine chapters explores the multiple aspects of this remarkable substance, from its role in the development of the bronze and iron ages to its value as an ingredient in gunpowder and fireworks to its ability to save lives from both small and large-scale poisoning. A single chapter profiles the charcoal burners who produced this precious substance for centuries; another explores its close relative, the diamond.

REVIEWS OF THE SOUL OF FIRE

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