Founded in 1999, Stirring is one of the oldest continuously publishing journals on the internet.
Stirring is an electronic quarterly journal.
JENNIFER MCCLELLAN
It’s familiar
as staring at a blank page
waiting for the words to come;
you and me, quiet in the car
driving just to drive,
our minds holding flashlights
to the spaces between
the lines of the songs we listen to,
thinking one of these days we’ll find
that “something more” feeling
we’ve been waiting forever to feel.
I don’t think that will ever change.
Something that has changed
is now there are three of us
and this is the only place our son
will nap; asleep, but still moving
as we pass country homes
with burning trash piles, rusted
toy trucks in barren gardens,
collapsing barns,
and Christmas decorations
hanging from trees like costume jewelry
from an old woman’s arthritic bones.
The commitments I witness
through the window are astonishing.
The way the cold air
takes in the ashes and smoke
without questions.
The blue sky hiding behind
the winter blanket clouds
without complaints.
Knowing a mother always
has room for “I love you”,
despite the lack of space in her day.
And the earth, the most selfless
of them all seems to hold anything
we place on it even after
it’s something we’ve forgotten.
I can’t stop admiring the naked
trees we pass and wonder
if they feel as tired as I do.
They must, considering
their obligation to give
so much to the world
while maintaining an upright
position no matter the weather
or swift threat of a swinging axe.
It’s so easy to get lost in thoughts
of where we’re not going
and what we’re not doing,
but at least I’m not a tree;
unable to move regardless
of the unstoppable itch
from its own peeling bark.
Jennifer McClellan is an Indiana based poet who lives with her husband, son, and two cats. She holds a degree from the University of Southern Indiana. She works full time and loves to spend her evenings writing. She is published in the Tipton Poetry Journal, Flying Island and upcoming issues of The Green Hills Literacy Lantern and Round Table Literary Journal. She believes music and poetry are the heart of human connection and is thrilled to share her art. Follow her at jenniferlmcclellan.wordpress.com and on Instagram @jennifer.l.mcclellan