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Another year of SHINE Poetry Series is coming to a close, and I am proud to present one last feature of the year...Michael Waterson. Michael is a retired journalist who obviously still has his finger on the pulse! Enjoy his poem "Breaking News," among others, and be sure to check out his Bio which follows. Thank you, Michael, for sharing your words with SHINE! Breaking News  December Romance Who would have thought becoming a septuagenarian would be so becoming to me that beauty-pageant-grade young women now hanker for my friendship on social media? That’s a new wrinkle to add to my collection. My scam antennae tingle: Don’t fool yourself, old fool! You walk through a dark forest. But let me entertain the fantasy, at least until the next time I look in the mirror and see my rheumy-eyed, gray grandfather looking askance at me. Excusez-moi, Where am I?I am so impressed by the cleanliness of the Paris metro, the absence of graffiti, unlike the New York City subway. And the suicide barriers display what I can only dub avant garde regard for life that’s foreign to my wild west sensibility and far ahead of La Grosse Pomme. And though I scan the color-coded routes for the location of my station for ten minutes, my finger pecking at the map like a barnyard chicken, I get on the wrong train and have to get off, double back and try again, another lost American, but smiling, enjoying the pristine ride.  Michael Waterson is a retired journalist with stints as a seasonal firefighter, San Francisco taxi driver, and wine educator. He holds an MFA from Mills College. His work has appeared in numerous online and print journals, including California Quarterly, Home Planet News, and The Bookends Review. Michael's collection Cosmology of Heaven and Hell was published by The Poetry Box in 2022. He is Poet Laureate Emeritus of the Napa Valley. His information may be found at: michaelwatersonpoetry.com.
Today, SHINE features two poems by the talented Sandra Redmond (Sandy Peters), who I also happen to call my mom, and whose birthday is today -- happy birthday!! Poetry lovers, please enjoy these two fantastic poems, "The Price of Progress" and "Galaxy, which seems particularly fitting for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday here in America. Wishing all of my fellow Americans a happy Thanksgiving and safe travels. We'll see you back here next month with a special excerpt from the forthcoming inaugural print issue of SHINE! The Price of Progress All the places we used to walk and talk: In Dockum’s Drugstore, or a quick bowl Of soup at Red’s Chili Parlor Shop, Not far from a sale at Buck’s Department Store, Or, in Innes Tea Room, to relax, drink, and talk; Woolworth’s for Kleenex, Mars Bars, or – To replace ripped hose – checking out clothes racks in Thurston’s front door, Browsing in Goldblatt’s Book and Stationary Store, Hoping for rings at Helzberg Diamonds, or borrowing cash from Metro Loan’s second floor. Douglas’ marble, iron, and stone, now replaced or insured by a steel-girder’s hold Looms down with shadows on what didn’t last, To find cracked sidewalks, empty of then When front doors once opened to welcome the crowd, where the daytime shopped; Now lies desolate from its once harried flock, those deliberate shoppers who checked the new styles During their noontime breaks from the clock. Downtown iron, now steel and granite high-rises, Shadow the vacant sidewalk. Brick and mortar, soon to be rubble, are loaded by shovel, trucked off to a dump. Bullet-proof windows, doors coded by lock, LED flex shines with fiber hue. No problem, no worries, no fear for the few, With security designs which protect its own flock. GalaxySoon the leaves will fall, and I will too; When motion in the wind grows still, Swirling from the ground reveals What’s real, and I will too. For there are never secrets in the air. They show up on the beach and in the sea, A recompense for living on this global sphere. When seasons change, birds re-appear. There is no separate place to view What we can see among the stars With every telescope that’s yet to be. This cosmos holds the I and we. So live and praise this galaxy, Give thanks for mammal, fish, and tree, As I will also give my thanks, as long as I am me.  Sandra Redmond (Sandy Peters) is a retired teacher and homemaker, who writes from her home in Devon, PA. She earned her M.A. in Creative Writing from Wichita State University (KS) and an M.A. in History from Missouri State University. She is also an award-winning visual artist who regularly exhibits in and around Chester County (PA). Sandy is a lifelong poet, playwright, short-story writer, and musician who enjoys her local theare and spending time with loved ones.
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SHINE - International Poetry Series
Curated by Samantha Terrell
From the international poetry community, we have a "luxury of stars," as Sylvia Plath might say, and it is my honor to provide a home for their words through SHINE Poetry Series.
NOW IN PRINT!
Stars Over the Dordogne
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