Vistas & Byways Review - Fall 2020
  • Contents
    • In This Issue
    • Fiction
    • Nonfiction
    • Poetry
    • Bay Area Neighborhoods
    • Inside OLLI
  • About Us
  • Contributors
  • Submissions
  • Archive
    • Spring 2020
    • FALL 2019
    • SPRING 2019
    • Fall 2018
    • SPRING 2018
    • FALL 2017
    • FALL 2016
    • SPRING 2016
    • FALL 2015

POETRY 
    

A Forest of My Dreams   -   Weebly.com                                           

Imprint

"I have slept with my cheek against the earth."    -    Eric Rodoni

by MJ Moore


I have slept in the forest of my dreams,
cheek pressed against the earth
like a lover or child.
My skin has borne the primal mark of leaves,
and my memory, the dark smell of mushrooms sprouting.
 
I have heard small creatures scramble
through tree roots,
watched ants stagger under enormous burdens.
 
I have tasted water flashing off rocks
and chased it down the riverbed.
I have shivered in green air at dusk,
inhaled the nighttime promise
of death, transmutation, rebirth.
 
In the unexpected moments--
when we stoop to hoist the laundry
or stand shuffling in the grocery line--
the places we leave the imprint of our bodies
remember us, send a message:
 
Come back to this haven,
where joy is carved in the heart
and desire is home.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR  
MJ Moore lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her various incarnations have included technical writer and editor, grassroots environmental activist, first grade teacher, poet and flash fiction writer, wife, and mother. Strongly bicoastal, she thrives on salt air, wind and waves, but also loves mountains, deserts, forests and streams. Writing for her is a source of vision and joy. 

Other works in this Issue:
Poetry
November Apples - Hudson Valley
Wedding Day
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IN THIS ISSUE

BAY AREA NEIGHBORHOODS

FICTION

INSIDE OLLI

NONFICTION

POETRY

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Vistas & Byways Review is the semiannual journal of fiction, nonfiction and poetry by members of Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at San Francisco State University​.​
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Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at San Francisco State University (OLLI at SF State) provides communal and material support to theVistas & Byways  volunteer staff.

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CONTRIBUTORS

SUBMISSIONS

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Contact the V&B
  • Contents
    • In This Issue
    • Fiction
    • Nonfiction
    • Poetry
    • Bay Area Neighborhoods
    • Inside OLLI
  • About Us
  • Contributors
  • Submissions
  • Archive
    • Spring 2020
    • FALL 2019
    • SPRING 2019
    • Fall 2018
    • SPRING 2018
    • FALL 2017
    • FALL 2016
    • SPRING 2016
    • FALL 2015