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Poets within this community of writers are feeling this moment in time, and writing about it.
Mary K O’Melveny’s poem is another example.
If you have something you want to say about what is happening in the world and how it may be affecting you in the way of a poem, and would like to have it considered for this series, drop me an email with a subject heading “poems written in the midst of our times.”
Joe Maita
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Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center/ via Wikimedia Commons
Earth’s atmosphere photographed from the International Space Station. The orange and green line of airglow is at roughly the altitude of the Kármán line
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Speeding Toward The Kármán Line
Each day I worry we have reached that point
of no return where gravity abandons its
grip, jettisoning us out into deepest space.
The opposite edge of Philippe Petit’s challenge
as he navigated two hundred feet of one inch
braided steel cable between Twin Tower roofs.
Acceleration grows daily. Its main fuel source –
propulsive anger. Even the Pope is alarmed.
Sometimes fury’s force rips one’s breath away.
As air thins, disappears in clouds of gas, one
wonders how we missed the warning signs, dismissed
the red blinking lights that told us system failure
was imminent. As substance floated away, we
grabbed for something solid to hold on to. Dark
matter is everywhere even when we can’t see it.
Some of us have carried protest signs, steered
neighbors to places of refuge, linked arms,
sounded alarms, opened doors, shared cellphone
photos, blown whistles in hopes we can turn our craft
around before we spin away, helpless, hapless,
homeless. Seen from far above, the boundaries must
look obvious, though no one in the danger zone can
agree on where or when it will be too late to change
course. Any time now, we will all know for certain.
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Mary K O’Melveny, retired labor rights lawyer, lives with her wife near Woodstock, NY. Mary became a fan of Jazz as a very young girl listening to Louis Armstrong and Lester Young on her grandparents’ Victrola record player. Mary’s award-nominated poetry appears in many print and on-line literary journals, anthologies and national blog sites. Mary has authored three poetry collections. Her just-released fourth book, Flight Patterns, is available by clicking here
Click here to read If You Want to Go to Heaven, Follow a Songbird – Mary K O’Melveny’s album of poetry and music, published by Jerry Jazz Musician
Click here to visit her web site
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Click for:
Other poems written “In the Midst of Our Times”
A Letter From the Editor: On “The Weary Blues: Celebrating Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance”
Information about the book Kinds of Cool: An Interactive Collection of Jazz Poetry, Vol. II (featuring women poets)
More poetry on Jerry Jazz Musician
“Where the Music Wasn’t Allowed,” Jane McCarthy’s winning story in the 71st Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest
More short fiction on Jerry Jazz Musician
Information about how to submit your poetry or short fiction
Subscribe to the (free) Jerry Jazz Musician quarterly newsletter
Helping to support the ongoing publication of Jerry Jazz Musician, and to keep it commercial-free (thank you!)
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Jerry Jazz Musician…human produced since 1999
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