The Zingara Project

Tag: Ginger Dehlinger

  • Autumn Elegy by Ginger Dehlinger

    Sól rises late
    on fields scorched sallow,
    weeds furred in frost.

    October’s metamorphosis
    ignites a red-orange wildfire
    in the treetops.
    It spreads to the undergrowth,
    curls the tongues of ferns,
    emblazons the carpet.

    The season’s gathering rust
    sends wild things for cover.
    Maples bleed
    before winter’s breath
    stiffens their bones.

    All too soon the leaf piles vanish
    in wisps of smoke
    from gasping funeral pyres.
    A cold shudder of wind
    stirs dust in the creek bed
    and the sun sets too soon.

    —

    Ginger Dehlinger writes in multiple genres. Although better known for her novels Brute Heart and Never Done, her poetry and short stories have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including the 2019 Zingara Poetry Review Mother’s Day issue. You can find her in Bend, Oregon or at www.gdehlinger.blogspot.com

  • First Mother’s Day without Mom by Ginger Dehlinger

    It’s a sunny day in May
    and I’m pushing a wheeled cart
    through the aisles of the supermarket.

    Other Saturday shoppers are doing the same,
    and though I’m not usually interested
    I look in every basket I pass.
    Blind to the bread, lettuce and eggs,
    my eyes rest on balloons, cards,
    flowers and small beribboned packages.

    How paltry is my pantry;
    how blue and bereft my basket
    compared to theirs.

    I watch a store employee
    dip strawberries in melted chocolate
    then roll them in candy sprinkles.

    Mom loved those decadent treats,
    so I nestle a colorful dozen
    in my basket of gray merchandise.

    Ahead of me in the long checkout line
    a pink teddy bear sits atop a loaded cart.
    Avoiding his shiny stare I look away.

    To my right is a display of potted plants
    (orchids, mini roses, African violets)
    some large, others small and green.

    A shopper is picking up plants,
    looking at price labels, sniffing blossoms,
    debating which one to buy.

    “Take the roses,” I want to tell her.
    “Take the roses.”

    —

    Ginger Dehlinger writes in multiple genres. Her poetry and short stories have appeared in several e-zines and anthologies. Most of her work is set in the West including two novels, Brute Heart (Oregon) and Never Done (Colorado). Ginger lives in Bend, OR with her husband and a cat, both spoiled.