Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

 

Occupation :

Poet

Marital status :

Married

Interests :

Reading, writing, growing orchids, concerts, plays

Publish writing :

Fluid Ink Press, Erosha Literary Journal, In The Eyes of the Wild, nature anthology, Poetry Niederngasse, Painted Poetry Literary Journal, Panda Poetry Magazine, Poetry Magazine (University of Phoenix), Rustlings of the Wind, Some Words, Swan Dive, Tamafyhr Mountain Poetry, Vinland Journal, Wilmington Blues, Wired Arts from Wired Hearts, Words of a Woman Net Society "lingerings', Emerging from Twilight - A Shadow Poetry Collection, Vol, 2 and Vol. 3, Dream Chaser Poet Society, Battle Stars', Ophelia's Muse, Wicked Alice, Verse Libre, Write On!, Midnight Edition, Write-On Magazette, Poetic Reflections, La Rosa Blanca, Creations Journal, Scope Journal, Westlovian Gazette, Peshekee River Poetry, The Green Fuse.

 

Personal statement

Living in Portland, Oregon, USA, Sharon is married with four children. An active member of he Women's Assn. of The Oregon Symphony, Words of a Woman Net Society, Phenomenal Women of the Web and very much a today's woman. An astrological Leo, this lady thrives on poetry and music.

 

I'd like to keep summer

locked forever in a special box

full of freshly mown hay,

glossy wings,

fragrant petals,

the promise of continuance.

Bottle the smell

that's uniquely its own,

cherish evening hours

of kindred pleasure,

enjoy bar-b-que aroma,

relish breakfast

surrounded by delicate zephyrs.

I cling tenaciously

to particular portions of time,

hold them greedily

in memory.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

Lake offers

mirrored contemplation,

a parallel universe

of liquid paradise.

Willows dip,

wave in anticipation,

cast shadows on uncertainty.

Roots grope tentatively,

grounded in the here and now.

Branches bow,

extend their leaves

relentlessly towards

the water world.

Reflections blur,

offer little promise

of a clear glimpse

beyond earth's reach.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

Camouflaged with colored leaves

we point our sticks at the enemy,

stalk the silent stand of trees,

attach, fight with gallant daring.

Returning to our leafy fortress,

we leap and tumble

in cushioned heaps of foliage.

Conquest is ours.

I'm still the tomboy in my heart,

love to kick the crispy leaves,

smell the woodsy scent,

remember times of childish pleasure.

Bright cold days of autumn

bring back youthful memories.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

Warm tilled soil

squeezes between by toes,

joins maternal earth

with a daughter of the land.

Crystal sounds

float and fall

to meet the fever

of humid valleys.

Tangy sprays

from nearby beaches

cavort on the wind,

touch my lips with prayer.

Wood smoke drifts,

faintly reminiscent,

will-o-the-wisp scents

carry distinctly.

I stretch arms

towards the mountains,

search for their strength,

savor it with my other rewards.

Life's connections,

sharpened by reality,in

hover on the edge

of poetic imagination.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

My finger follows their flight

as they arrow across the sky,

aimed at the horizon

in precise formation.

Nature beckons

with subtle voice,

blows her breath

towards warmer regions.

Long black lines

vee southward,

leaders switch

with inborn instinct.

Parting echoes fill my ears,

raucous melody rebounds;

sounds sweep a finale

to summer's scenario.

Warmth seeps slowly away,

another balmy season

veers towards autumn

on the flutter of wings.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

With the anguish of Arachne,

she watches her tapestry

Wind catches the thread,

attaches it, creates a base.

Spirals, rebuilt daily,

anchor her home.

Polymer web once finished

is stronger than steel;

an engineering feat.

Spinnerets send filament

curving closer.

Iridescent lights bounce,

form radii rainbows.

Retracing her steps

to the center,

she waits. I watch.

She spins fibers

of life and death,

traps prey, existence ends.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

 

 

Blue Moon Dance

We fight to break out

of the swirl that traps us.

Shove, beat fists, struggle.

Anger flashes in frustration.

Life floats in waves,

throws us high,

then dashes deep

in opaque choking water.

Silent screams echo

through our beings, mouths gape

helplessly. We battle

in separate tidal explosions,

alone, alienated

in blue moon despondency.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

2001

Staring Out To Sea

An unremarkable sunset

matches my day.

Sky pales, paints the horizon

grey with an icy blush.

Waves ruffle, lip the shore,

turn damp particles to a silver sheen.

Seated on a derelict log

bleached by the sea,

I stare across an opaque expanse

pacified by silent wind,

feel no whisper on my cheek,

no strand of hair disturbed.

Light fades, turns sand to sage,

wraps around my shoulders

with harmony.

Life doesn't need

to excite me constantly.

Twilight comes in many hues.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

(c) April 9th, 2002

Guitarist In The Park

Sun sends wavered light

through willow branches, provides

comfort and shade. Fingers touch,

light strum color on strings.

Tranquility tinges music

like rippled water, guitarist

gently persuades, coaxes soothed

sound in this hushed spot.

Urban hum fades, harmony returns,

I sit, eyes closed, head back.

Nature's balm pacifies,

balances yin with yang.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

(c) 2001

Puddles

Along this muddy road sit

pools of reflecting rainwater.

Prints fill with moisture.

Etched deeply in spots,

faded in some, they send back

misty visions of my spent failures.

Footsteps lag,

heart weighs heavily;

thoughts nonsense,

incoherent and vulnerable.

My existence, a puddle

on the surface of a dirty lane.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

(c) 2001

Blurred Vision

Breeze touches our faces,

whimsical air in this changeable season.

Voices have muffled sound,

mellow timbre in the gloom.

I hear your full bodied laugh,

your buttery freckles

that make my spirit sing

are just a blur.

Fog wisps through barren treetops,

shades stark branches,

creates halos around street lamps,

dusts everything with fairy mist.

Nature, a work in progress,

our vaporous symphony.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

(c) 2002

Spring Slumbers

She lies warmly comforted

by a snowy cover,

dreams excitedly of her return.

Wreathed in folded blossoms,

dressed in gossamer,

barefooted miss waits.

Visions float fancifully

of snowdrops; crocus toes

dig deeply in grassy meadows,

push warm brown earth.

Spring gestures

her sleepy agitation.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

(c) 2001

Bounty

This, a special time of year

when rains have gone and it is clear.

Now pick my share of berries there,

black, blue or red, I just don't care.

The juicy stream drips down my chin,

my tongue flicks out, neat as a pin

to catch those drops that settle there.

Bushes I've picked are now stripped bare.

I've had my fill, right in the field,

will take more home of this fine yield.

Freeze some for jam and some for juice

then in the winter, turn them loose.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

(c) 2000

Raindance

She strides confidently,

forehead angled to receive

damp falling mist.

Whimsical air shatters,

rhythmic sound washes over her.

Rain speaks in enchanted dialects,

beads her pony tail

with gentle insistence,

settles on sooty lashes.

Sweet-water showers

moisten her warm lips,

coax a questing tongue.

Spiked branches are adorned

with bits of magic,

leaves tattooed with liquid luster.

Puddles flow into

a stream of chocolate,

braid gravel channels,

spill willy-nilly into

the river, merrily ripple

in blended hue.

Fresh-faced laughter

bubbles upward as she

experiences nature's cleansing.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

(c) 2002

Sunset Swirls

Outbuildings march in a line,

point to the lighthouse,

quiet in abandonment.

It lives with the terns,

surveys the ocean's solitude.

Remote area sweeps down,

butts against a granite face,

banked by rocks that rise

to meet a grassy slope.

Only dandelions thrive,

poke heads greedily

towards the sun,

tap roots thrust deeply.

Outdated by technology,

once a place

of welcome light,

it longs to serve again,

echoes the birds' mournful songs.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

(c) 2002

Pinwheels

I stare into

the undiscovered layers

of the universe...constant

flickers emanate outward.

Pinwheel sparks breathe in orbit,

send flares of transitory light,

traverse the system in skewed paths

towards the unknown.

Time has no framework.

Undetermined durations

drift through eons

of celestial explosions.

My life, a blink

in the scheme of stars.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

(c) 2002

Sand Girl

She looks intently at her feet.

Shells of creamy pink lay there.

Hair streams down in her eyes,

the rest pulled into one fat braid.

With kicked off sandals by her feet

she squishes wet sand through her toes.

This child on mine, deeply absorbed,

studies wonders on the beach.

Picks up one, discards most,

checks it over carefully.

Lays fluted edge up to her ear,

listens for the rumbling sea.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

(c) 2000

Rainbow Spheres

Bright and bouncy

with a kaleidoscope of color,

capsules swirl,

new creations bump one another,

some burst in misty moisture.

Sunshine glimmers warmly

on tiny heads bent to blow

the sparkling spheres.

Round rainbows float

across the grass

in summer excitement.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

(c) 2001

Shafts Of Wheat

Warmth washes the countryside,

light rakes fields,

sprawls over the mellow afternoon,

extends across a living carpet.

Plants nod swollen heads,

stand naked in the searing sun,

wave golden lances,

drink up intense vitality.

Ripe with abundance,

shafts twist and stretch

their spears to the sky,

reach for the source of life.

Fat, fruitful land

bursts with grain,

sends a message to millions,

a future without famine.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

Violent Elements

Restless waves foretell

a brewing storm.

Air, sweaty and smoky

with turmoil and spume

turns into misty vapor

as if harboring powerful spirits,

winds rise, kick the sand,

blast bare ankles.

We scan the earth's juncture,

catch the wind that cuts

like winged splinters;

briny kisses lick our wounds.

Storm clouds clamp down

hard on the horizon,

blue-black, tinted purple

where they meet the waterline.

Dull thunder rumbles

across the ocean,

matches the sea's

white water stretches.

Flashes of lightning

split the sky,

spread arched branches

that flick silver.

Swells rise

in terraced mountains,

violent water assaults

the shoneline.

Frothy curls of seawater

whitewash thee beach,

a salad of seagrass tangles

in the foam at our feet.

Prodded by gale force winds,

we're pushed across the sand

with the rush and power

of unpredictable gods.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

(c) 2002

Desert Sundance

Heat bombards

this stern land,

bleaches color to triviality,

wilts travelers with intensity.

A different palate

dominates the landscape.

Plants and animals integrate thoroughly.

Green mesquite veins

and patches of yellow

bloom a desert portrait

of sage surprise. Monoliths

mingle in sandy desolation,

hover over the shriveled scrub.

Dust puffs rise,

wind scours our sensitive eyes.

A graceful arch pierces the rock,

forms a picture window.

Framed in stone, backlit

by the dipping sun, faint flashes

cast mango highlights

on the burnt earth. Shadows sshift,

another world emerges at twilight,

a mirage in the moonlight.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

(c) 2002

Fragrant Mist

Soft rain bursts forth.

Dampened by drizzle,

hair flattens against my

head as watery darts lick my face.

It beats a rapid tattoo,

streams across the landscape,

spreads a mist over the earth,

a gauzy web on the ferns.

There is fresh fragrance hanging in the air.

Nature's cleansing.

Sharon Rothenfluch Cooper

(c) November 1st, 2000