Josephine, Maja T. and Pam Shea "Betsy Ross" with baskets of poems and flags.
Most of the time I have spent with poetry has been either with a page of paper or the computer screen as I write or edit my own poems and the California Quarterly. It was a great pleasure this July to participate in three fantastic poetry events in person!
First I walked the route of Sunland-Tujunga's Independence Day parade, giving out 1000 poem postcards and 250 mini-flags (with two helpers) The postcards included two of my own poems, reproduced below and the first stanza of America the Beautiful, which should be American national anthem, but alas, is not...
THE COLOR GUARDAbove the hills' crooked spine, clouds dissolveinto the azure. Dark red rose lazily unfolds its petals.My “Mr. Lincoln” blossoms by the birch treewith the innocence of long-lost, Polish summers.White bark peaks from beneath green leaves.White oleander spills over white picket fence.The sapphire sky shines with the deepest blue of the iris.Its yellow heart matches sunshine's purest gold,bouncing off the brilliant sphere of the stamensin the bridal silk of white matilla poppies.My garden presents the colors at noondressed in the red, white and blue of the flag.At night, fireworks tear the indigo fabricinto light ribbons and multicolored sparks.Fireworks scatter into chaos of laughter -the children's delight - the Fourth of July!
(C) 2025 by Maja Trochimczyk
This is a new version of a poem that earlier included references to the wonderful piece by Chares Ives, The Fourth of July that contains the best musical image of fireworks in a music history... But almost nobody in America knows about Charles Ives, so I deleted this reference, alas...
When I gave out the other poem to one lady in the audience, she said she still had it on her fridge from last year, and I was happy to hear that, but it is time to write a new Independence Day poem...
I started from a challenge to action - a spot of sunlight moving across the hills I see from my window.
Outside my Window
A round spot of gold light appears
on the smooth slope of California hills
green in the spring, shadowed by rainclouds.
Suddenly, an epiphany of light
blossoms among thickening shadows,
dusk approaching soon, much too soon.
The shining circle stretches into an arrow,
points west, along the ridge. The arrow of light,
my arrow, tells me to go, do, act, lead and follow.
Be the light, bring the light. Enlighten.
Before I can even reach for pen and paper
to write down this command, this call to action,
it is gone. All is shadow now. Murky darkness.
Yet the memory of the cloud epiphany lingers,
etched onto my retina. This spot of light,
this arrow will always be with me—
Each morning, I will turn the circle of contemplation
into the arrow of action, the dawn star
into a comet, inexorably reaching its end.
Is it not the story of my life?
This spot of light on a mountain meadow
after one winter storm, before another?
I catch it, hold it, and keep it safe
among my treasures. Things not to be
discarded. Unforgettable thoughts.
Another pearl for my precious necklace
woven from brilliant moments—
jewels of a well-lived life.
(c) 2022 by Maja Trochimczyk, from Bright Skies. Selected Poems.
The next bunch featured poems reproduced here - An Artichoke of a Poem, Mata Boska Zielna, The Infinity Room, Dragon Fruit Awareness... that appeared in Crystal Fire Poems of Joy and Wisdom and the California Quarterly. There was also a thought on the art of looking.
Oh, the Art of Looking
Look ahead—
wave and wave and wave
dance in the moonlight
a silver path across the ocean
shimmering horizon
stark intensity
of the Pacific
Look up—
the Milky Way
What do you see?
The spine of the world?
Buttons made of stars?
Indigo cupola with diamonds?
wave after wave after wave
Look inside—
deep into my eyes
electric currents flow
in an arc of brightness
connecting us into One
the Oneness we forgot
Now, we are alive, we are
One—the clear azure
of windswept sky—
the ruby wine
beneath roots
of the earth
Look around—
wake up and see,
truly see where you are—
enveloped in a blanket
of time, carried
from now to now—
from wave to wave to wave
from Earth into Earth into One
(C) 2022 by Maja Trochimczyk, first published in California Quarterly.
Six days later, I was already in Albuquerque, NM, at the convention of National Federation of State Poetry Societies, where I represented California as the President and, by chance, participated in a Slam Poetry style Haiku Death Match. Of 16 Participants, one was crowned the Death Match champion. Three haiku were read in each round, where two poets were set against each other, replying with a haiku to haiku. Three-person pane judged the poems and picked the winner who got the best of three. I only had two haiku ready for I thought it was just a regular reading, so after the rues were announced I scrolled through my gmail messages and found old submissions to Haiku Study Group Anthologies - and that was enough to find myself in semifinals, defeated by the champion Jerry Hardesty of Alabama. So much fun!
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First round haiku
Shapeshifting clouds shade
cement prison housing blocks -
longing for freedom
Roadrunner waits for me,a limp lizard in its beak -
Carpe Diem
old linden tree
in her empty courtyard -the scent of memories
Second round haiku
"let me go!"my kite tugs on its string -we dream of freedom
the flutter of wingsinterrupts my thoughts -a feather-light heart
Dead Sea Scrolls unfurlinsights for 3 millennia"you shall... you shall not..."
Third round haikn
shadow and light -
yes and no chase each other
in circular motion
`high school latin classArs longa Vita Brevis -true beauty lingers
one breath, one bite,one thought, one step at a time -the measure of life
16 contestants and the MC, NFSPS Convention, 26/7/2025
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