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Sunday Brunch

Poetic Micro Essays

Look for a new post of Sunday Brunch every month on the first Sunday. This column features Tripod Poems, poetic micro essays inspired by three randomly chosen words. These words become the title of the piece, are contained within the piece and are developed into observations on life in the Southwest and beyond.


Misty – Cycle – Humble

Grey overcast softens
the mid-winter sunrise.

Down below, the White Sands
are shrouded in moisture
as their gypsum slowly releases
its dampness, low temperatures
rising with each slight gain
in solar radiation.

I feel humble in this grey space,
aware of my minuteness
in the overall scheme.

Amid these grand complexities
in the cycle of a turning world,
I am a mere mote in a frail sunbeam.

In this mellowing moment,
I am neither ambitious
nor on purpose,

simply unclear
like the weather.

I settle gently
into these muted hours,

while mourning doves
coo their plaintive calls
from nearby trees
and neighboring rooftops.

The subdued light soothes,
and sun-lover though I be,
this misty morning
strangely suits me.


Photo credit: Stock photo edited by Eve West Bessier to resemble watercolor painting

Disclaimer:
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Southwest Word Fiesta™ or its steering committee.

Eve West Bessier

Eve is a poet laureate emerita of Silver City and Grant County, New Mexico; and of Davis and Yolo County, California. She served on the steering committee for the Southwest Word Fiesta, and has been a festival presenter. Eve is a retired social scientist, educator, and voice coach. She is a published author, jazz vocalist, photographer and nature enthusiast currently living in Alamogordo, New Mexico.
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Mimbres Press of Western New Mexico University is a traditional academic press that welcomes agented and unagented submissions in the following genres: literary fiction, creative non-fiction, essays, memoir, poetry, children’s books, historical fiction, and academic books. We are particularly interested in academic work and commercial work with a strong social message, including but not limited to works of history, reportage, biography, anthropology, culture, human rights, and the natural world. We will also consider selective works of national and global significance.