September 30, 2025
Mimi German
in war ravaged Portland
morning geese comb the grass
for worms
leaves fall quietly from the branch
yellow dahlias rise in salutation to the sun
squirrels rush home with acorns for their hearth
loaves of sourdough rise in the bakeries
coffee scents the streets like Rome
cherry blossoms ballerina at the river’s edge
but beware the icy seed-sown fear
a conjured nightmare
a most cruel gruel
the delusion from a man insane
has come to conquer like Quixote
upon this tranquil hill
Mimi German is an American poet, installation artist, peace activist, and author of five poetry collections, including her most recent translated work, WAR POEMS, Israel-Gaza/The First 100 Days of Carnage. Her writing also appears in Maintenant 18, A Journal of Contemporary Dada Writing and Art, International Times in the UK, Mountain Wind Magazine (China), Walt’s Corner in The Long Islander, Clarion Quarterly, Haiku Pause, The Literary Underground, and various other online journals. Her poetry was included in an Italian art installation by Marco Nereo Rotelli called Respect, 150 women poets writing about violence against women. German’s poems have been translated into Arabic, Hebrew, Irish, and Chinese. She was named Oregon’s New Generation Beat Poet Laureate in 2023.
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