Blog of the Week ~ An Update with Sherri Brannon

This week, my friends, we are visiting with Sherri Brannon, of Softly Piqued Lens, to find out what she has been up to since our interview in the spring of 2014. Sherri is also a talented artist and photographer, and you will find much to enjoy on her blog, where she states she is "observing the world through a heart-colored lens." I love that! 

Sherry: Sherri, so nice to have you back! Tell us what went on, in the time you were away. I know you moved. Where to, and what is different about it from where you were? What do you love about it? 

Sherri: Thank you, it’s nice to be back. The last year has been a whirlwind – my husband decided to retire five years earlier than planned. We prepped
our house for sale, got it sold, and moved to Florida in three months! My parents already live here in Florida, which is a main reason we chose our new location. That, and the golf for my husband! 

The differences between Virginia and Florida are huge when it comes to weather and landscape. I love Florida because of its warmth, sunshine, and open skies. It’s beautiful. 

Sherry: A huge, life-changing leap! Florida looks beautiful, indeed. As a dedicated sky-watcher, I would be walking around with my head tipped back and my jaw dropped all the time, LOL. 

What drew you back to poetry? I know we all have times when we take a break. Louise Erdrich describes it as times of gestation, akin to being pregnant. Once you got settled, did the poems start bubbling up?

Sherri: The move had a big impact on my creativity for awhile. I think any big life change does that – there’s an adjustment period. But what surprised me
the most was how this change in landscape completely threw off my poetry. In Virginia, my poetry flowed in the winter when I felt a bit melancholy – the bleak landscape and frigid temperatures always put me in that mindset for lots and lots of writing. The sunshine and warmth here in Florida completely took away my poetic muse because there were no winter blues. I still feel as if I’m figuring out how to write poetry with all this sunshine and color everywhere year-round. 

Sherry: Wow! The incredible color and beauty of your sunsets are amazing. I know we share a deep love for the natural world, and this shines through your poems, photographs, and paintings. Are you close to nature where you are living now? Is there a favorite place you have discovered in your new landscape? 

Sherri: The nature here is different, which is another adjustment for me. I miss the trees in Virginia so much. They also had a huge impact on my poetry writing...there’s just something about the woods that is very spiritual for me. Here in Florida, we don’t have any woods nearby, except for the occasional mossy oak in an open field somewhere.

The community I live in is a new one, so there aren’t a lot of trees (except for some palm trees here and there). There are lots of colorful flowers, though. My favorite thing about this Florida landscape is the sky. The clouds, sunrises,
and sunsets are spectacular! 

Sherry: I could live on sunsets alone. Are you still painting? 

Sherri: I’m just getting ready to start some painting again. I’ve become very interested in painting digitally on my iPad with Procreate. I’m taking an
online class in September, and meanwhile I’m experimenting with it and trying to teach myself the basics. I don’t have any paintings to share right now – hopefully soon! 

My other creative outlet has continued to be iphoneography, which I absolutely love. I’m “sherribrannon” on Instagram, if anyone hangs out there and would like to see my feed. 

Sherry: You have some lovely work posted there, Sherri. You have an amazing eye.

I love your recent poem, "The Lonely Hours", and I would love to include it here. Can you tell us a bit about what you were feeling and thinking when you wrote this poem?

Sherri: Thank you, I’m really glad you liked my Lonely Hours poem. This poem has been an idea in my head since last year. With the move, I had put it on the shelf...when I was feeling frustrated about not writing poetry recently, I remembered the idea and just started writing. I’m thankful to this poem for getting me going again. 

It’s hard not to notice these days how focused everyone is on their devices, especially out in public. Everywhere you look, people are tuned out and focused in on their cell phones and tablets. I was at a restaurant recently and there was a family of six beside us. All six of them were on their iphones – there was zero interaction for a very extended amount of time. It was actually kind of sad to observe their complete disconnect from each other. 

THE LONELY HOURS

We have purged wonder, sitting alone with the silent furniture

in our dressing gowns 

with our firewalls and collecting of Friends

like gold medallions

crafting big words in a Godless code, but saying nothing

spilling our souls from virtual thrones, but no one's listening

There's a loneliness that beats like a second heart

wireless illusions leave us uninspired, so very tired

at the break of dawn, sleeping with the TV on 

playing pretend with our stories

exporting our seeming, deleting our being, 

queuing up our sticks and stones to throw

The doves with tender eyes have gone blind, and

we don't seem to mind 

communion with the stars has gone, and we with 

our cyber wiles, our encrypted smiles and faux glories

reveling in this hum on the earth, this

"you show me your ego and I'll trump yours with mine"

The trees still know everything, outside our curtained windows

offering up their holy treasures to ears gone deaf 

to their lessons...and their hearts must break, as they wait

in every wood, lonely for us listening souls 

with our closed off minds, our tightly closed blinds, 

our numbing escape from the sacred flow.

Sherry: "We have purged wonder." That is a profoundly sad truth. Do you have a couple of other poems you would like to share?

Sherri: I’d love to share two other poems. The first one is called "The Soul Always Knows". Most of my poetry ends up being about my very strong belief that we are all souls having a human experience. Our bodies are simply vessels that contain us while we’re here on earth learning lessons.

Sherry: I share that belief, Sherri.

THE SOUL ALWAYS KNOWS

What calls you to the quiet?

To let go of bone and

Wander with the soul?

To allow her to step

From your waters of

Deep remembering

Feeling safe to speak?

When my bones are weary

They leave an imprint

Sunken and fossilized

Like rib marks pressed

Deeply into the earth

Choose a bone, soul

Says with a whisper

Pry it from the dirt

Petrified and tender

Use it for something

Not intended:

Pick the padlock

Unlock the gate 

From your graveyard

Let flowers spill 

And roots grow, and

Words flow

Through it all, the

Soul always knows

She waits, lamp in hand,

Carrying that elusive key

That often won't fit

Any lock I own

Seeing the whole time that

My chest door is ajar

That the sky hangs there

Lovingly and bright

Like a vast, open prayer

So quenchable that I

Fill my cup and drink it.

Sherry: Sigh. This is utterly lovely - that sky hanging there "like a vast, open prayer." So beautiful! And I love the image of the soul, waiting, holding the lantern, to light our way back to her.

Sherri: The other poem is called “Illuminate” and it’s about my constant struggle with needing to express myself through poetry, but also not wanting to feel vulnerable. My poetry is the most intimate part of me, and there are days when I’m hesitant to reveal it and feel exposed. 

ILLUMINATE

Words spark and flare,

Carving a crack, glowing

Under my breastbone

Illuminating my soul thoughts

Their points of pain and their

Rounds of love, and I wonder

If they'll be revealed, just

As the moon wonders if the

Clouds will expose her tonight.

She turns away her lunar face

Hiding her luminous thoughts,

Those glowing words like maps

Across her surface, parts of

Them leaking gingerly across

The curve of a swan's neck

Gliding on a distant lake.

Some nights the moon hides

With the stars, while others

She makes her presence known

Setting tree tips aglow

Revealing their secrets

While the birds with no names

Turn silent and sleep songless

In the branches.

Some nights my words hesitate

While others they gleam, just

Like the moon shines across

A shy mare in a midnight field,

Her nostrils flaring, her

Hooves restless and stomping

From all she yearns to say.

Sherry: Incredibly lovely, the moon turning her face away, the songless birds, the shy mare in the field. Your poetry is simply beautiful, Sherri. I'm so happy we get to read it again.

Is there anything you’d like to say to Poets United?

Sherri: Yes, I’d like to thank Poets United for always being there...this community is like those lifelong friends we all have, the ones who even if you get busy and lose touch for awhile, you can reconnect and pick up right where you left off. It’s a very warm and welcoming circle of people, and I truly appreciate everyone, even if I sometimes take breaks between poetry writing. So, to everyone at Poets United: I am deeply grateful for your online presence.

Sherry: Thank you, Sherri, for your kind words. We are always happy when our friends pop up again. Thanks for sharing your news. We look forward to enjoying your beautiful poems in the months ahead, and sharing in the beauty of your Florida skies through your photos.

Wasn't this a lovely visit, my friends? Lovely poems and spectacular Florida skies! Come back and see who we talk to next. Who knows? It might be you!