In an ongoing series, the editors, former contributors, and readers of Eclectica have been invited to write a poem containing four pre-chosen words. The words for this issue are chap, oregano, eraser, and feral. Below are the resulting selected poems.

If you would like to participate in the next special poetry assignment, the four new words are frontier, pool, rhubarb, and pulse. Send your poem(s) to editors@eclectica.org by September 1, 2004.

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(Click on the title to view the whole poem!)

 

Wolf Daughter
 
She lays down in a nest of
wrestling puppies, and the sun
sets its eraser to all she has known.  
 
Jennifer Finstrom

 

Two Word Poems
 
How our lives reduce
to compost, and never for the sake
of growing.  
 
Taylor Graham

 

Palm Springs for the First Time
 
Here, in full blaze,
ripe as a prickly pear blossom,
I just might become one
with a high-noon shadow  
 
Amy Crane Johnson

 

Sometimes Mothers are Insane
 
Mornings like this,
the clocks have swift
hands, snapping
their fingers: Hurry up!  
 
Liz Bruno

 

Sabbatical
 
Through the hot desert winds,
the imam chants the call to prayer—
white-robed men of the town, all
bowing together, saying the same things  
 
Michael Spice

 

Scent
 
The chap in the market wraps up the herbs,
unaware of the trigger he has pulled.  
 
Liliana Bayer

 

Athens Widowed
 
Today he is back to being
a muttering fester,
this El Greco who lives next door.  
 
Barbara De Franceschi

 

Under Analysis
 
My analyst claims I have to stop this
loser act. She can be feral on her bad days.  
 
Arlene Ang

 

(Eleventh) Home
 
By early February I had planted perennials,
rosemary, Echinacea, oregano (the Greek kind)
and in April we were tossing salads  
 
Anita Dugat-Greene

 

Lost on an Afternoon Hike
 
Hunger
rumbles inside
our bellies; we dream roasts  
 
Deborah P. Kolodji