Bowser

New Bones

New Bones and Veritas by Lorena Bowser

Early morning shining on the stones
Of a rustic washing board, old bones
Beneath are buried
To the water tap I go again 
To work on the stones
Where Old Bones worked before me
To keep her children freshly dressed
To greet the early morning
I reach to pull out from beneath
The clothes that wait for washing
And as I lift them to the stones
A coral snake, from the folds 
Of my own children’s clothes
Falls on my foot
In one split second he is gone!
Then do I react
I run for home in fright
And when I reach the steps
I stop
The snake avoided the disaster
And I, foolish
Late to react
Had to say “Thank you” to the snake
No stranger to old bones
For being wiser in the ways of washday
Than this newcomer at the stones


Lorena Bowser, 2003

Of Light and Hope

"Light always dispels darkness - dark can never extinguish light
Of such is hope"

A huge flag hangs from the curtain rod
In the faculty room
No one is here
A peace sign is glued to the window
It looks out at black
No one there either
What’s the message?
Dark outside
Inside too
I’m OK - I have light
It dispels the dark wall
Worn by the window
I see distant lampposts
Like tiny flying saucers
Suspended in air 
To light the night for 
Someone I cannot see
Come inside…
My light is brighter
			
Someone was here
Empty bottles on the table
Chairs askew
Books and magazines in disarray
Come back!
Clean up!
Who do you represent?
Magnetic  words from Lilliput 
Completely cover 
The door of the refrigerator:
“She hears many are willing to stick to right”
“Never do Sanskrit tea”
Teachers of language and civilization,
What are you thinking?
The handwritten sign on the file cabinet says:
LOCK IT!
An oversized clock
Hangs  like a Dali painting 
From the corner of the bookcase - askew
			
Looking up, I see
A high, white ceiling, brightly lit
Up there it’s clean 
Uncluttered and bright
It says “welcome”
Down here, I don’t want to stay any more
The door is open
I get up
With a wary glance back... strange!
I see on the night-reflecting window
A beautiful pattern shining
Red, green and blue
It reflects from the window covering that shades 
From the daylight sun
			
You can find rainbows anywhere
You only have to look for them


Lorena Bowser, 2002

Lorena Bowser was born in California, studied languages at the Sorbonne for three years in France, and lived 20 years in Mexico, while working and raising her family. This experience has greatly enriched her outlook on life, inspiring the variety and cultural aspects so evident in her paintings and writings. She is an artist, a poet, an aspiring writer for children, and illustrator and designer of greeting cards. For the past several years she has been able to work in her studio at home, dedicating full time to her art and writing, and has been showing her fine art in Redding and San Francisco. View some of her work at: http://www.mesart.com/lorenasart.