cat's cradle

tiny circus act:
a thin string tied tight
to encircle our
eager fingerings

slipped from hand to hand
blinked from shape to shape
tying us in knots
then unraveling
like Penelope’s
never-woven web

simple stars at first
daring more and more
whirling Catherine wheels

intertwining we
lace together or
battle hand to hand
but we steadily
go on weaving this
meager length of line
until we are done

My book, Afterwords, is a collection of poems about loss and the journey back. The writer Ken Foster has said there may be just one universal story: somebody lost something. Afterwords, too, tells a story of loss, but these poems are reminders that the "afterwords" can also speak of surviving with what remains. Click here to read reviews and excerpts from Afterwords.

CenterPiece is a one-person play I have written and that I perform. It looks at the patchwork of life experiences we all share, from assimilating out family legends to learning about love and loss to finding our own voices and moving into the center of our lives. Click here for more info.
 

homesteading

lost language

grace

figure and ground

ether

Saturday, April 12, 3pm,
Boston Public Library, Copley Square
National Poetry Month Festival
(annual marathon reading)
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©2004 Ellen Steinbaum

My photo on the home page is by Peter Urban.
The cover of my book, Afterwords, was designed by Kate Misail.
The painting on the cover of the book, which is also pictured on this page, is by Eric Sealine.

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