reunion

We gave in that day
to laughter
long and delicious,
not at all our usual
smile-then-back-to-business.
No...

We lifted up a rare and
precious music
together surrendering to
simple delight
as the canopy of green spilled
innocence down in droplets
of blessing.

But walls that had so long contained
my spirit, built stone by stone
of remembered pain,
mortared with shadows and secrets
by long labor of my own hands,
fell away
some way
in this Sharing.

Startled, my smile began to falter…

In that moment,

I saw you

for the first time
in years

and my heart swelled
to sudden pain,
unaccustomed
to the light.

ashes, ashes

chestnut curls drift
in lazy whorls
strangely
slowly
to the floor
time itself
reluctant
to touch her

but hair will grow
again not knowing
how relentless
is this blade

   clothes torn
   hair shorn
   nothing left
   to cut

reluctant fingers
relax their hold
cold clunk
of steel on counter

   ashes

she turns
from the mirror
seeing nothing
hearing nothing
feeling blessed nothing
near the surface in this moment
but the urgency of ashes


   there must be
   something here
   to burn



~jws
reworked from 2006 version


Linking up to dVerse ~ Poet's Pub Open Link night.

offering

I hold

the weight

of this day’s

silence

one more

heavy

offering

to place

upon the

altar

of stones

stacked

high

each still

throbbing

with living

heat

of all that

would be

spoken

if not for the

crushing

severity

of this

sacrifice

I have

required

of me

and I struggle to remember

the why of it.

(From the archives, April 4, 2009)

October

dry leaves
   rattle
rustle
     in the evening
   breeze

each rasping
   sigh
dying
     a whispered
   lullaby

~

joining in Open Link Night at dVerse~Poet's Pub

on the day of the funeral

a caramel cake for you.
made just the way Granny taught me.

burn the sugar
until you’re sure it’s ruined,
stir the smoking, sputtering liquid
into sweet buttery cream, then
spoon over split layers of
golden cake.

as friends come
to sit with you
in your raw, fresh grief
and to remember,

share with them a cup
of strong hot coffee
and a taste of this,

rich and dark
and sweet.

collecting freckles

Collecting freckles
 at the shore,
 wind and spray
 play wild in my hair.

I mark miles of sand
 with a barefoot rule
 to the cooling caress
 of ocean foam
 and reflect
 in the light
 of a blazing sun.

I search the horizon...

the sky...

the sea...

until a fresh perspective
 finds me.

Unburdened
 by this quiet gift,
 I am content
 to turn toward home.








2009

dark wings

There is a hole

in my house where

the wasp crawls in

again and again

I spend

countless hours

catching it up

in an empty glass

to let it fly free

in the garden

but it never

fails to

return

even so

I cannot bring

myself to crush

its

glossy

delicate

menace

.

Linked into Open Link Night at dVerse - Poet's Pub. Go check it out!