Poetry
Reframing the Ordinary
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Tangled Oak, how proud you stand, watching your leaves fall with resign
The moss has browned, the grass has frosted and the birds all abandoned your limbs.
In this hour of quiet jilt it's hard to step back and see design
But you, Oak Tree, stand so tall when all is looking grim.
Sad Oak, pray tell me, doth your roots feel the harsh of frost?
Has the caress of winter’s cold seeped into your centermost rings?
Does your trunk not feel the harsh wind blow and wish for a lesser cost?
A lesser cost for living, a lesser cost for being?
Can you feel the flush of the sun kissing the cold from the earth’s floor?
Your squirrels are awake, your leaves will be back and you will once again thrive.
Put down your worry, and know you will again bloom like you have before.
Thawed Oak, I can tell you, you’re very much alive.
Relax and let your boughs sigh as they sway gently in the wind.
Enjoy this moment of warm tranquil quiet and soft serenity.
Imprint this vision in your mind, to recall it when life seems dim.
Enjoy what you can until you can’t- and then go on to enjoy it for eternity.
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The Ebb and Flow
Watching dew roll down a blade of grass
Prisms dancing about in morning light
The seasons come and go so fast
Nothing arises without a fight.
Jaded light falls filtered through flush foliage
Solar radiation blankets me in warmth
Everything exacts a high tollage
For what we love, we must also mourn.
A soft paw, a loving glance
A constant effort to make good memories
I wish I had a better chance
But am weighed down by trauma transcending centuries.
Deep brown eyes, a grounding embrace
Memories of those who had to go
Recollections of past mistakes
The edges always seem so shrouded in shadow.
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Porch Light
​
Celestial light shines down on us
At night under the stars
You can always find it
No matter where you are.
The warmth of home embraces us
The presence of our loved ones makes us feel safe
Surrounded by all of the memories
That we have made in this place.
The light of home shines to us
From lodgings near and far
Letting you know a nest is made there
A haven in which we abandon old scars.
The porch wood is wet and soggy
Or maybe the screen door slightly creeks
There are mud prints where there shouldn’t be
Or perhaps all is clean.
Everything is different
And yet everything is the same
These lights hold more importance
Than what is suggested by their name.
After a long hard day
Feeling tired and alone
We look at that little light
And know that we are home.
Bereft
When the storm finally lets loose,
And the once dark clouds
Dissipate into nothingness,
How does the sky know
How to compensate
For the power it once held,
And the emptiness that follows
Letting it all go?
Lost in Thought
Driving alone I
Realized the speed limit was
Not seventy-two
You were young, you were rooted, you wanted to settle.
You knew what you wanted,
You could not move from it.
I was young, I was ambitious, I wanted to be more.
I had come from nothing,
I could not stand still.
Outgrown
They call the road
Apache Trail.
But what’s so
Apache
About concrete?