Writing Samples

Poetry by Jon Raasch


Remember when we were marmots

Remember when we were marmots
     lounging on the Swiss Alps,
     chewing dandelions?
In April,
     when the snow slid
     we would emerge from our burrow,
     and, with breaths still cloudy,
     we'd look out on a world that,
     more often than not, seemed to dance with sunshine.
I thought of you as so much stronger then,
     and as the wind blew through your fur
     it made little parts here and there.
Although the alpine summers were short,
     the days felt so long.
     and the sky was too blue,
     the grass too green.
Remember how it hurt my eyes,
     and neither the abundance of flowers
     nor my unconquerable hunger
     could stop the longing 
     to return to our dark burrow.

2004