Terrie Leigh Relf, US

 

 

Free Verse   Revisiting the Washington St. Bridge, 2008   She is riding in a car stuck in late afternoon traffic beneath the blue suspension bridge, remembering how she once stood at its edge, gripped railing safely hinged to concrete unable to step onto its well-worn path to read Lao Tzu's sand-etched quotes, unable to gaze below. . . but now, undisturbed by the rise and fall of her breath, oh the sweet, sweet sound of ten- thousand cranes as they take wing, soar skyward, skyward. An earlier version of the poem appeared in PSH, 2003.     Mirror Cinquain   First Rain of Fall   outside— the rain, how it tumbles down; inside, I wait for coffee grounds to settle... the warmth of the cup in my hands while I struggle to decide what to wear, if I should stay home.     Cinquain   To the Moon Outside my Window   cold night poems unfurl like petals for the moon. . . too soon dawn arrives, and with it this ode.   Read Terrie's haiku in the November holiday thread.

 

About Terrie Leigh Relf (semi)   Terrie Leigh Relf (AKA semi), a life time member of the SFPA, lives in Ocean Beach, located in San Diego, CA. In addition to teaching Academic Writing and Critical Thinking at San Diego City College and Woodbury University of Architecture and Design, she is on staff at Sam’s Dot Publishing, where she edits Hungur Magazine and The Drabbler, and serves on the Special Projects Committee. Recent releases from Sam’s Dot Publishing include The Poet’s Workshop—and Beyond, Blood Journey, a vampire novel, co-authored with Henry Lewis Sanders, and My friend, the poet, and other poems about people I think I know. She has been nominated for two Rhysling Awards, most recently for a collaborative poem with her daughter, Willow Katsumi Relf-Discartin, “Space Envelopes”. You may contact her at: tlrelf@gmail.com This is Terrie's first appearance in Sketchbook.