Claire Blotter
Temple of Darkness
We wait in the temple of darkness
our minds strained from too much thinking
We wait in a gyre of water and smooth leaves
listen to redwood and birch breathe,
subtle songs of cricket and bird
We stay so still we can hear
a stream sleep in its bed even
when there is no water--
the voice of rain yearning
to fall mist gathering
to bloom into drops
A whisper so quiet
we're unsure if it comes
from inside or outside us
We wait for the faintest prayer
absorb it till we can move
forward straight from
the heart
Claire Blotter's poetry has been published in Rattle, Barnwood, Gargoyle, Canary, HOW(ever), and The California Quarterly among other publications. Her poetry awards include two Marin Arts Council Grants, First Place in the San Francisco Bay Guardian Poetry Contest, First Place American Academy of Poets Graduate Award, and Second Place in the Browning Monologue Contest at San Francisco State University, where she later taught in the creative writing and women studies departments. She has published three chapbooks, including Moment in the Moment House, from Finishing Line Press. She has represented San Francisco in National Poetry Slams in Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco.
Temple of Darkness
We wait in the temple of darkness
our minds strained from too much thinking
We wait in a gyre of water and smooth leaves
listen to redwood and birch breathe,
subtle songs of cricket and bird
We stay so still we can hear
a stream sleep in its bed even
when there is no water--
the voice of rain yearning
to fall mist gathering
to bloom into drops
A whisper so quiet
we're unsure if it comes
from inside or outside us
We wait for the faintest prayer
absorb it till we can move
forward straight from
the heart
Claire Blotter's poetry has been published in Rattle, Barnwood, Gargoyle, Canary, HOW(ever), and The California Quarterly among other publications. Her poetry awards include two Marin Arts Council Grants, First Place in the San Francisco Bay Guardian Poetry Contest, First Place American Academy of Poets Graduate Award, and Second Place in the Browning Monologue Contest at San Francisco State University, where she later taught in the creative writing and women studies departments. She has published three chapbooks, including Moment in the Moment House, from Finishing Line Press. She has represented San Francisco in National Poetry Slams in Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco.