.
4 poems by J.R. Solonche
all selections are from Vanity, Main Street Rag Enterprises, Edinboro PA
© 2026 J.R. Solonche
.
❀
.
Winter Oasis
.
The woodpecker at
the suet cake must
be Yahweh to the birds,
for they have followed
his head’s pillar of fire
and are now harvesting
the manna falling from
the feeder to their feet.
.
❀
.
Nice Ice
.
Covered in ice
from the storm,
the boulder, glinting
in the sunlight,
winks at a cloud as
sexily as a stone can.
.
❀
.
Zhao Li Stops
.
to listen to the song of a bird
he has never heard before,
but it is not the song of a bird.
It is the song of two branches
rubbing together. “How did
that tree learn how to sing like
a bird I’ve never heard before?
Oh, it is the song of two
branches rubbing together
that I’ve never heard before,”
laughs Zhao Li.
.
❀
.
The Morning Was Weeping
.
It did not brush away its tears.
The morning let its tears fall against the window.
The morning wanted me to ask why it wept.
The morning wanted me to comfort it.
It wanted me to console it.
The morning wanted my sympathy.
I did not ask why it wept.
I did not comfort it.
I did not console it.
The sun came out.
I went out to learn the sun’s sympathy,
which is also called wisdom.
.
.
.
❀ ❀ ❀
.
Old Zhao Li has written many books of poetry. He has been writing poetry since he was very young. Now Zhao Li is quite old but he just can’t stop writing poems. His hair is gray, his eyes are gray, but grayness is no excuse. Oh, many times Zhao Li has tried to stop. He has pulled the covers over his head. He has refused to get out of bed. But then the morning sun sneaks beneath his shade. Then a bird sings through a crack in the window. Zhao Li can close his eyes, he can stick his fingers in his ears, but it is too late. The sun and the bird have already become a poem. Zhao Li sighs, sits up on the edge of the bed, and writes it down.
.
❀
.
J.R. Solonche has also written many books of poetry. How young was he when he wrote his first poem? How old is he now, and still writing? Only the sun and the bird know. Maybe the moon, too. We, his readers, sigh, sit up on the edge of the bed, and open his new book. It is too late.
.
❀
.
Vanity, J.R. Solonche’s forty-somethingth book of poetry, is available from Main Street Rag.
.
Other poems by J.R. Solonche featured at Verse & Image:
.
.
❀ ❀ ❀ ❀ ❀
.
Thank you for visiting Verse and Image:
. . . . . every Friday I present one or more poems I’ve read this week that particularly speak to me;
. . . . . some Saturdays I present one or two poems submitted by YOU, my readers.
.
If you would like to offer a poem for consideration, either by a favorite author or your own work, please view these GUIDELINES for Saturday Readers Share:
.
.
If you would like to receive an email each time a post appears, please SUBSCRIBE to Verse and Image using the button on the Home Page.
.
If you have a hard time finding the SUBSCRIBE button on this WordPress site, you can send me your email address and I will add you to the subscriber list. Send your request to
.
COMMENTS@GRIFFINPOETRY.COM
.
Thanks again for joining the conversation.
.
– Bill
.
.
[…] Submit […]