In order to view this poem as the author intended it to appear, we suggest reading it on a computer screen or in the landscape orientation on your phone.

Gathering Beneath the Palm
Katharyn Howd Machan

The women whisper, at first,
then in their checked and paisley dresses
talk more loudly because their men
are not around, are not about,
are probably shooting alligators,
delayed in demanding the brimming baskets
the women have filled with muffins and meat.
Good women, tender women, loving
life in a sun-full world with homes
they can manage for daughters and sons
still young enough to care that Mama
might cry sometimes, but it’s all right.
June noon, a blue sky high
with thin black birds seeking prey.
The women share their precious time
with smiles and nods, their knowledge sure
that they will always have each other—
if not for all of life, at least
the memories of how their words
shaped into joy this one slow day.

—
Katharyn Howd Machan, a longtime professor in the Department of Writing at Ithaca College, has served as coordinator of the Ithaca Community Poets and director of the Feminist Women’s Writing Workshops, Inc. Her poems have appeared in numerous magazines, anthologies, textbooks, and collections (most recently Dark Side of the Spoon from The Moonstone Press in 2022 and A Slow Bottle of Wine, winner of the Jessie Bryce Niles Chapbook Competition, from Comstock Writers, Inc. in 2020), and she has edited three thematic works, including Adrienne Rich: A Tribute Anthology with Split Oak Press. For body and spirit, she belly dances.

Know anyone who might appreciate reading Katharyn’s poem?
Why not share the link to this page?

Have you read these poems:
Urban Sketch by Robert Coles
The Reason by Pam Vap

Table of Contents