Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Two poems

"Pot-Bound" and "Left Out"

Pot-Bound

  • Roots
  • strangled
  • reaching out
  • suffocating
  • every several years
  • all plants need repotting
  • their nutrients depleted
  • larger pot, richer potting mix
  • untangle roots gently, water deep
  • am I pot-bound needing replanting too
  • how long has this mature plant lay dormant
  • plagued with decay, refusing sunlight
  • propagate and fertilize me
  • soak and soothe my snarled roots
  • shock me with fresh moist soil
  • remove my dead leaves
  • prune my branches
  • hold my stem
  • help me
  • Bloom

Left Out

Sponsored
Sponsored
  • I’m a left-handed woman
  • in a right-handed world
  • where right equals might and
  • you better have the right answer.
  • Every boss wants a right-hand man
  • Even Scripture proclaims
  • The good will sit on the
  • right side of the throne.
  • Lefties struggle to perform
  • simple tasks like writing cursive
  • or cutting with scissors
  • and always must dine at the
  • left end of the table
  • Hurry up Mom would say,
  • or you’ll be left behind.
  • I’ve had it with remarks such as
  • You have two left feet or
  • Your left hand doesn’t know
  • what your right hand is doing
  • Left-handed comments sting my ears
  • How many southpaws agree?
  • Am I out in left field?
  • I think I’m right about this issue
  • I’m a left-handed woman
  • in a right-handed world
  • And I feel left out!

Nancy Foley earned her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Dayton. She and her husband moved from Indianapolis to San Diego in 1982. After raising four children, Nancy enrolled in creative writing classes at SDSU. She has been a member of the San Diego Community College Writer’s Workshop since 2007. Her prose and poetry appear in four anthologies: For the Love of Writing, A Volume of Voices, Fruit & Fig Leaves, and The Stories Start Here, as well as a self-published collection, In Her Own Words. She was the featured poet in the 10/06/16 issue of the San Diego Reader’s Rhyme & Verse section. On 2/5/17 Nancy was the guest poet at the monthly gathering of Poets Inland North Cty, SD. Her family, including eight grandchildren, provides ample material for her essays and poems.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

The Art Of Dr. Seuss, Boarded: A New Pirate Adventure, Wild Horses Festival

Events December 26-December 30, 2024
Next Article

Mary Catherine Swanson wants every San Diego student going to college

Where busing from Southeast San Diego to University City has led

Pot-Bound

  • Roots
  • strangled
  • reaching out
  • suffocating
  • every several years
  • all plants need repotting
  • their nutrients depleted
  • larger pot, richer potting mix
  • untangle roots gently, water deep
  • am I pot-bound needing replanting too
  • how long has this mature plant lay dormant
  • plagued with decay, refusing sunlight
  • propagate and fertilize me
  • soak and soothe my snarled roots
  • shock me with fresh moist soil
  • remove my dead leaves
  • prune my branches
  • hold my stem
  • help me
  • Bloom

Left Out

Sponsored
Sponsored
  • I’m a left-handed woman
  • in a right-handed world
  • where right equals might and
  • you better have the right answer.
  • Every boss wants a right-hand man
  • Even Scripture proclaims
  • The good will sit on the
  • right side of the throne.
  • Lefties struggle to perform
  • simple tasks like writing cursive
  • or cutting with scissors
  • and always must dine at the
  • left end of the table
  • Hurry up Mom would say,
  • or you’ll be left behind.
  • I’ve had it with remarks such as
  • You have two left feet or
  • Your left hand doesn’t know
  • what your right hand is doing
  • Left-handed comments sting my ears
  • How many southpaws agree?
  • Am I out in left field?
  • I think I’m right about this issue
  • I’m a left-handed woman
  • in a right-handed world
  • And I feel left out!

Nancy Foley earned her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Dayton. She and her husband moved from Indianapolis to San Diego in 1982. After raising four children, Nancy enrolled in creative writing classes at SDSU. She has been a member of the San Diego Community College Writer’s Workshop since 2007. Her prose and poetry appear in four anthologies: For the Love of Writing, A Volume of Voices, Fruit & Fig Leaves, and The Stories Start Here, as well as a self-published collection, In Her Own Words. She was the featured poet in the 10/06/16 issue of the San Diego Reader’s Rhyme & Verse section. On 2/5/17 Nancy was the guest poet at the monthly gathering of Poets Inland North Cty, SD. Her family, including eight grandchildren, provides ample material for her essays and poems.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego beaches not that nice to dogs

Bacteria and seawater itself not that great
Next Article

Secrets of Resilience in May's Unforgettable Memoir

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader