dr. philip terman lives in northwestern pennsylvania and is an english professor at clarion university. as a major inspiration for this project as a person, poet, and fellow soul always making observations out in the world, it seemed a good fit to share a sample of his poetry.
below is his poem from page 96 of the torah garden, a nature-swept, spirit-hugging set of words crafted in couplets. much gratitude goes to him for his encouragement and also letting this poem reach the audience for this poetry project.
considering a field
by philip terman
field of tall daisies, clover, buttercups, hay bales
waiting for the gathering, the occasional ground bird,
dried-out goldenrod stalks, and then nothing else
i could name, poor carrier of words that i am--
wouldn't you want to be an open field with butterflies
floating through you, an elevated field, a field
deer can float their watery shapes through, a field
where, if people gathered, they would be compelled
into silence, their thoughts would run their course
like a spring, they would speak only a few last words
and those word would be about beauty, they would measure
the surrounding trees and think seriously about how small
their bodies are, perhaps it would be mid-summer, perhaps
the breeze would chill then hush their skin, perhaps
they would be distracted and forget a little while where they were
and be indistinguishable from the daisies, the clover, the buttercups.
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