Today I saw a dog--a boxer, I think, wearing a hot pink tutu, tulle swishing as she trotted down the street alongside her owner’s motorized cart. Look, sometimes delight comes easy, around the corner like a dog in a pink tutu. Sometimes, though, it’s a slow climb, slogging through, boots sucking mud, over rocks, to find, suddenly, delight. In the climb, and the mud, and the rocks. In the river’s purr and the clear blue of sky through bare winter branches.
Category: poetry
this is my work
This is my work: to sit quietly in the open air and watch a grosbeak walk sideways along the thinnest branches of the longest limbs of the tallest oak tree, his throat a crimson banner blazing in the afternoon sun. It is also my peace. © stephanie g pepper, 2023
when rain falls
No matter how far
I carry myself
or where I land,
I’ve no doubt that when,
deep into the dry summer,
rain
begins to fall and
thunder
tumbles across the
sky
you will find me on my
porch
with a sweating jar of
sweet tea
muttering, “mm-hmm, we needed this.”
beautiful splinter
The moon was a beautiful
splinter last night, hanging
amber in the indigo sky,
while threads of milky purple clouds
drifted by like lazy hitchhikers
on a deserted highway.
Oh, I wanted a picture—or two—
but between arriving home
and chopping onions for soup,
leaving no time to get the camera,
the moon dropped behind the trees,
then, slipped below the horizon,
out of reach, out of time.
If I’d known—
if I’d known,
I would’ve stood
in her light a little longer,
gazed more fully, breathed more deeply,
taking in the angled crescent
nodding luminous
in the muted night. I carry
it now, a photograph in my mind,
as I do all beautiful things.
©stephanie g pepper, 2020
photo by: stephanie pepper, 2021
make a river
How many drops make a river where silver bellied fish flash in the sun? How many make the puddle in the pothole where a robin splashes in the rain? For that matter, how many make this mug, make this spoonful, make a cup, make a kettle? How many make a spring storm, that soaks the winter weary earth? Don’t ask about the ocean-- it’s futile to guess. So. What is one more drop, or another tear that falls?
©stephanie g pepper, 2022
the winter wren
This morning I had a long conversation with
a winter wren. I’m not sure what passed
between us, exactly, only that
something did. Something that
left me feeling
joyful…
giddy, almost…
and definitely delighted.
All afternoon I considered this,
and wondered why such a secretive
little bird would call me out for a chat,
which, clearly, she did, kit-kittering loudly
all around me until, at last,
I called out “hello, Little One,” and
rose to find her in the undergrowth.
She did not startle and fly away
at my approach, but studied me
quite carefully as I spoke. Neither
was she injured, as she crept around under
the rocks and hopped among the
tangled thickets, a worm dangling
from her fine, sharp beak,
chittering all the while.
And now, night has fallen fully,
and the moon peers out
behind the clouds, and I—delighted
and grateful—am
no closer to knowing
what, exactly, passed between me and
the winter wren.
©stephanie g pepper, 2021
when I am beside the water
1. When I am beside the water, I sink to the earth, to my knees in shell fragments and river stones, polished and smooth by the endless passing of water this way 2. and what troubles me dissolves and the jagged edges of my discontent soften 3. how many times will I kneel by the water to heal? 4. the unseen heron cries and reveals himself at last in the beating of great wings 5. and I rise, saved again by the clean air and the blesséd earth and the sweet clear water
©stephanie pepper, 2021
angled autumn light
I am thinking of light, and how,
after summer burns itself out at last,
and its sharp, hot blaze fades from thought,
light softens, drapes its brilliance in an airy golden veil, and
slips into hidden corners.
The good Earth tilts,
leans into winter,
and the long dark,
and the deep rest;
lingering, for only a breath,
in the angled autumn light.
©stephanie pepper, 2021
Stones River, December 23
Tonight it will rain and grow colder still,
but this morning is clear and bright.
The early sun is alive, awake behind the treeline,
its beams dancing like fairies on the water,
and casting long shadows on
blue-green glass, to the glory of naked trees.
The river exhales into the chill winter air;
its breath rises in smokey ribbons
through the stillness, like faintly whispered
secrets of its own soul’s longing.
Resting against an old sweet gum,
I sit on its knotted roots, unearthed, exposed
to light by untold years of the river
flooding and flowing and falling.
My gloved fingers lace around a
stainless steel mug of tea;
my restless mind works
the endless questions, asked–never answered–
time and time again.
Out of the hush, a voice breaks the
disquiet in my spirit, and maybe I heard
what the river spoke:
Stop.
Let it feed you.
Let this be only what it is: a quiet morning beside the river
two days before Christmas.
So I lean back into the rough trunk of the
time weathered tree, whisper the words of the
Irish poet across the water in thanks, and
swallow the sunshine with my tea.
©stephanie g pepper, 2021
spam/scam/junk
greetings! i have to share bad news with you. dear user I am inside your email approximately a few months ago...
[FRM:Pst L Patrick
SUBJ:HELLO
MSG:Are you going through
financial stress because of this pandemic?
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(Con’t) 2 of 2
families with $20,000
Reply YES if you are
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(End)]
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some time ago, i purchased access to email from hackers (nowadays, it is quite simple to buy) easily managed to log in to your email… one week later, i have already installed the trojan virus on all the devices you use to access email. (it was not hard at all) all ingenious is simple. 🙂 i am invisible. likewise, i guess by now you understand why i have stayed undetected until this letter.
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i also have no issue at all with making them available for
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you transfer $2567 usa dollar to me
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things you need to avoid from doing:
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it is not so hard, considering that i control all your systems)
your videos will be shared with the public right away))
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all the videos have been saved to remote servers.
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things you don’t need to worry about:
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trust me, i have no point to continue creating troubles in your life. if i wanted that i would do it a long time ago!
[Using your identity the court has issued a
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against your name ignoring this message
will be an intentional second attempt to
avoid initial appearance…]
everything will done in a fair manner!
one more thing: don’t get caught in similar situations in the future!
my advice: keep changing all your passwords frequently.
[…calling to let you know
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©stephanie g pepper, 2021
stephanie pepper 