poetry quarterly

10th anniversary

PLAN B PRESS Issue

Dianne Miller


Dianne Miller is the co-founder of Plan B Press and was the initial Vice President and the second President of the Berks Bards, a nonprofit literary organization founded in 1999 to support the 30-day poetry festival called “Bardfest” which has occurred annually in Berks County, PA ever since. She produced a literary newsletter called Two Thought Minimum, featuring the poetry presented at a reading series by the same name which took place at Monk’s Tunic (now defunct) in Lancaster, PA from 1996-1998. After stepping down from the Berks Bards, Dianne transitioned into jewelry making. Here are two pieces from her 1999 aptly titled book, I’m Not Finished Yet…., the first book produced by Plan B Press.

 


INSPIRATION

So suddenly awakened,
half awake, and half dreaming,
I find the pen,
open the book in the dark
and scribble
on a page,
I hope
is empty.
Words angled—
the cross of the “T”
in the middle of
no-
where.
Legibility—questionable
but I leave it
not wanting to wake
the sleeping giant beside me
not wanting to punish him
for my whimsical fits
of inspiration.
Wondering now
If I should invest in a tiny light
to keep beside the pen
for these nights
when I dance between reality and fantasy.
I only know
it’s as close as I can get
to the truth.

 

THE GIFTED, THE GIFT

I knew the first day
that I was not cut
from the same cookie-cutter mold
as the rest of you.
I never liked coloring within the lines
or following a pre-recorded message
to the letter.
And so now,
I’ve found out
I don’t fit your psychological profile either.
Big Surprise.
It’s not that it bothers me,
after all,
I get all your failures
and turn them into successes.
After I reprogram their bodies,
and deprogram their minds
from the garbage you’ve fed them.
We all started at the same point.
I just wonder
if we started out together
how you lost
the ability
to think
for yourselves.
And who forgot to teach you
that THAT
is your greatest gift of all.


Dianne Miller is a poet who first splashed onto the scene in the early 90s in Lancaster, PA. Miller had a hand in the founding of BerksBards, Lancaster Poets Out Loud and Plan B Press with stevenallenmay. One of the first publications by Plan B Press was a collection of her poetry, I'm Not Finished Yet . . . Her creative pursuits currently include incorporating poetry into handmade jewelry through W Jewelry Designs.

 

Published in Volume 11, Number 3, Summer 2010.