
Sande Anfang
/artist and poet

Poetry Collections
Recent Poems
Small Gods
While filling the seeder I thought I spied
the god of Juncos hiding
in the canthus of my eye.
He winked, made the thumbs-up sign
and disappeared in a copse of maple fire.
The god of Cabbage Moths
tatted a message in pidgin Braille.
I read it through the eyelet of Sandrina leaves.
My life grew huge as the Super Moon’s face
though my verdant supper turned to lace.
I keep my own small gods for times
when fog surrounds my heart or brain
and words die birthing on my tongue.
They comfort me in simple ways
as I weave the fabric of my days.
There's nothing wrong with modest gods
I trust them more than bloated fools
who say, "obey me" from on high
then kick you, broken, from the womb.
I keep my own small gods close by
believe me, they'll believe in you.
© Sandra Anfang 2018
Gary Snyder Will Die Someday
Gary Snyder will die someday
and the world will be a poorer place.
As a tremulous teenager
standing on the precipice of my life,
I smelled danger in every direction.
From him I learned how to ford the riprap
on the roof of my mouth.
Cold Mountain bore its way under my skin
anesthetized my pain.
Everywhere I wandered--
the American's North Fork
Yuba's sanded boulders
Yosemite's emerald pools--
I heard him whistling through a deer bone
whittled in elegance,
scissored legs a blur of flight
in the rear-view mirror of my mind.
Turkeys gabble in the background,
feathers explode like buckshot.
His spoor is everywhere:
tucked in Redwood's knotholes
etched in Lichen's green mandala
muffling Manzanita's murmur.
The breath of rain-doused charcoal
from an abandoned fire
whispers his name
up on Humbug Mountain.
© Sandra Anfang
(from Xylem Highway, 2019)
If you Want to Watch the Perseids
If you want to watch the Perseids
you have to understand the power of night
to ice your bones inside the thin fleece jacket.
If you want to watch the Perseids
you have to find a quiet road away from street lamps
and the moon’s cheesecake grin.
If you want to watch the Perseids
you have to hoard patience like four-leaf clovers
and swallow words you want to speak.
If you want to watch the Perseids
you have to sprawl across the hood of your car
and cock you head at an impossible angle.
If you want to watch the Perseids
you have to soft-focus your eyes
‘til they sweep the village of sky.
If you want to watch the Perseids
you must be willing to be distracted
by the courtship of Great-Horned Owls.
If you want to watch the Perseids
you must risk disappointment
and count your gratitude one star at a time.
© Sandra Anfang 2017
BOOKS

