Cathryn Andresen’s poetry reflects her interest in relationships between nouns – proper and common. Poet Robert Peake’s review of her reading at Bell Arts Factory stated  “…she demonstrated a strong commitment to vulnerability, insight, and craft".  Cathryn’s poetry placed First in the Ventura County Writers Club’s poetry contest in 2006, 2007 and 2009, and earned Honorable Mentions in 2006 and 2007 from the California Writers Club’s Inland Empire Branch. Her publications include ASKEW, Windows, In the Spotlight, Fresh Ink and Naked Knuckle. Cathryn edited “Quintessence – An Anthology” (VCWC Press 2008) and her chapbook, “human/Nature" (2010). Though she most often writes in free verse, she has also written in more than thirty formal forms. According to Cathryn, wooing the poetry-resistant at a reading is more fun and more productive than writing in iambic pentameter. Cathryn hosts The PoemCrafters Guild, a workshop formed in 2005 to go beyond critique and study by also providing poetry programs to schools and communities. Additionally, Cathryn recently built and launched a web site that invites an on-line community of poets and writers to submit work for publication on the site and compete in the site’s prompt-inspired contests. Cathryn manages activities at home, a small ranch in Ventura County, but would tell you “I live in a garden” - and, that for her, incorporating  poetry into sculpture is the next frontier. cathryn-andresen.com

Full Spectrum Expectations
 
this chameleon  turned green as
required     the color of money   vibrant 
tendrils grasping     even  though
her wants were  peach blush           when ordered

she became background       a  blue-gray
monochrome    serene as an
unruffled December sky      unlike the
magenta bravado she
donned on hectorly  black
nights                                when

assigned pale yellow   compliment to
his regal purple   she demurred   generously
evaporating into his sunlight          they never
suspected clandestine tangos and
scarlet petticoats               always on call                  

for brown conformity   that musty
dun       she sleeps fitfully through    
nightmares      clods of umber earth
tumbling into her grave smothering
her turquoise  song             on a moment’s

notice   transformation     versatile as an artist’s 
gray scale     dependable as
indigo denim      vivacious as orange          but

now       after and  transparent        they
wonder why    and miss her  like the
promise of a breeze    


                                                

Renovation
 
sometimes   knowing why
is like driving to
Home Depot        buying
a ladder   and
paint         drop cloths  and
rollers             masking tape  and
a good sash brush            carting it
all the way
home              and expecting
that  to be enough

 



At the Bengali Buffet
 
beautiful brown baby dressed in
ruffles    a celebration the color of beet
curry  saffron rice  and carrot
halwa        she rides on mother’s
hip    outshines the silk brocade sari that is
her howdah          little bare feet
dangle    silver bangles circle her
ankles in ting-a-ling joy      gold bracelets
dance on dimpled wrists      she is
round   precious    giggling      a princess
adored by her subjects       I imagine
the pleasure it must be
to feed her bits of butter dosa

© 2010 Cathryn Andresen