Wrong a lot*

2016 Walk Award
By Timothy Pilgrim

Lake’s plenty deep, dive off the cliff.
She’s crazy about me. Those jeans
will fit. I’ll be there for her

if the going gets tough. No chance
it will rain, I know when to shut up.
I don’t need directions,

they adore me at work. I’ve studied
enough, no doubt I’ll be rich.
We have plenty of gas,

she doesn’t like gifts. Our love
will survive. We don’t need cash,
I’m sober, can drive. It’s just fine

to speed. I will never get caught.
I know she’ll call, she wouldn’t leave.
I won’t miss her at all.

. . . . .
*Copyright 2016 by Timothy Pilgrim. Broadside illustrated by Mat Hudson.

let it flow!

Flying Trout Press invites you to a free poetry cabaret and book launch on Saturday, April 30, 2016, 7:00pm, at the Mount Baker Theatre (Encore Room), in Bellingham, Washington. In addition to Timothy Pilgrim, reading from his brand-new book of poems, Mapping Water, readers will include Flying Trout poets Paul S. Piper, Chuck Luckmann and Georgia Johnson. There will be a cash bar and plenty of festivity to wrap up National Poetry Month.

Book launch party and readings!

This is a guest post by Chuck Luckmann.

Bellingham Poems

“Poetry is a good way to be in the world,” my friend the poet Emily Warn once said. When I think this way, I’m a better poet and writer: more observant and mindful. When I’m in the world as a poet, nothing is ordinary.

Some poets are born poets; others are made. I’m in the latter category. I’ve worked at becoming a poet, but often in a haphazard way. To help me become a more disciplined writer, in October 2001, I started looking for another poet or two who would be interested in meeting regularly to share drafts.

At first Jason Graham and I met at the Old Town Café, but he took a job in Seattle. Shortly thereafter, in 2002, I met Paul Piper and Tim Pilgrim. We began meeting once or twice a month, at 4:00 PM on Thursdays, at The Black Cat, Nimbus, The Temple Bar, and when the weather was pleasant, on the outdoor decks at La Fiamma and Nicki’s at Squalicum Harbor.

Having to send to Pilgrim and Piper a poem every two weeks was good discipline. Our feedback to each other helped clarify and improve all of our drafts. Every poem went through this collaborative process. We’d meet, drink beer, and collectively try to solve our poetical problems. The writing group has helped me write and revise maybe a 100 poems; I’m sure it was the same for Tim and Paul.

A couple years ago we noticed that we’d written a significant number of poems about Bellingham and its surrounding landscapes. We decided that the collection would make a fine book. We chose 32 poems, and a few days ago, Flying Trout Press published Bellingham Poems.

We’ll be celebrating our poetry group and publication with a party on Saturday, December 6, 2014, from 3:00 – 6:00 PM at Brandywine Kitchen, 1317 Commercial Street, Bellingham. We’ll also be reading at Village Books, 1200 11th Street, at 4:00 PM on Sunday, December 14. Please join us.

. . . . .
Chuck Luckmann received his M.A. at Western Washington University and currently teaches English at Skagit Valley College.

Breathing Snow*

2013 Merit Award
By Timothy Pilgrim

You can do it awhile. Air pockets remain,
locked around ice crystals. But not forever—
just long enough to replay the avalanche

rolling over life, sweeping love downhill,
leaving you flattened in white,
no way to reach for sky. If your ears still hear,

eyes are not frozen closed, hand trapped
near face can clear a bit of space,
you may have sufficient time

to listen for swish of metal probes
slicing nearby, promising beams of light.
If tempted to sleep, imagine

a new lover finds you, scoops a place
by your side, lies close. Together,
you breathe hope into deep snow.

*Copyright 2013 by Timothy Pilgrim. Placard design by Egress Studio. Illustration by Angela Boyle, flyingdodopublications.com.

Painting Lesson*

2011 Walk Award
By Timothy Pilgrim

Painting lesson

Onyx spider drawn to spin
from frond on fern to fence,
and back again, lost control

as I thrashed by, let silk out fast,
spiraled wide, around, splashed down
near brush dipped deep

in white paint tin. My ruthless youth,
Genghis Tim to arachnid kin
dunked this way — some forced to swim,

others stroked latex on window trim —
this time, I grabbed a twig,
dipped it in, scooped coated spider

to cupped palm of withered hand.
Garden hose set on drip, I rinsed
her whiteness black again.

*Copyright 2011 by Timothy Pilgrim. Placard design by Egress Studio.