Hi All
Today, on the Jimmy Broccoli page and website I am honored to share the poetry of Johanne Lee.
Johanne is one of only a handful of poets I know who can follow a writing theme, a prompt, or other writing suggestion and can immediately write about it effectively and beautifully. This skill naturally makes Johanne's poems excitingly diverse. She writes for children, she writes horror, she writes powerful emotional pieces, she effectively uses humor - and she can write in a variety of poetic styles. And her work is consistently excellent.
Johanne in her own words:
Hello, I’m Johanne Lee, happy married, proud Mancunian, and middling aged mother of 3 grown children. That’s my achievement - anything else dusts the cake. My love of poetry began at a young age. I love in particular the dance of rhyme. This past year I have put myself forward in forums and been published in 5 anthologies - one writing being shortlisted in competition. I have also self published two picture books for early years children to raise money for two charities close to my heart - British Heart Foundation and Whale and Dolphin conservation. I am grateful to everyone who has encouraged and read my poetry. Being amongst present day poets is truly inspiring. Thank you to Jimmy Broccoli, a writer I admire for giving me this space.
Here are two poems by Johanne Lee. I know you're going to love them as much as I do! ______________
All the possibilities exist I have soaked up every rain Stood stock in still it seems as though I’ve abstained
Rooted in ordinary ground Look deeper upon these lines drawn I have grown quietly Since the day I was born
And as I gazed upon imaginations landscape I painted unseen colours timidly Waiting to be bolder, maybe older Frightened driftwood of sentient sea
But now I don’t wonder on the blossom Or pine for yellow ribbon of return I know my fate unfolding See the truth at last in learn
Part of a forest I lean towards the trees That stand alongside of me when worry lines breed Plant seeds I often joke about the wish to be an oak Wear a different cloak In some branches of success Soak There’s no moving me from the roots I’ve grown I may travel afield Til the day I lie prone In the peace of alone I am home
- Jolee ______________
Hasn’t the sky loved the earth for forever It’s gaze falling upon her in constant passion Blessing her in sunrise pleasing her sunset Dark clouds of annoyance When the earth does the day forget Does the storm contain frustration of their distance Though together constant drifting on a cloud And then see scars upon her face And tears in rivers Does the sky descend in thunder Raging loud Some days the rain of solemn grief It blows upon us To alert to awake to shake the soul For didn’t the sky love the earth from the beginning In any weather In its universe her worry Feeds black holes In sky’s warmth she flourishes still blushing For time has long cemented them in pair Does she grow from far below To meet the sky in love mellow But the feel of it Does vanish as wafer air Todays horizon offers them a meeting The sky aglow in its smiling delight How she blossoms in this hold Borne of heat that purges cold A short enchantment before the falling of the night
- Jolee ______________
Books by Johanne Lee:
Dream Big Little One. Check this out at Amazon:
Maximus the Humpback Whale. Check this out at Amazon:
For my audience in the United States - Johanne's books are also available on Amazon USA.
