WINTER'S
ARRIVAL
Hard, hard rain
an all-day rain
cold damp to the bones
then slivers of sleet
against the bedroom window.
Too fast.
Too soon.
Until I see
red geraniums
laced white pure
snow in the early morning.
WINTER'S
SOLACE
Muted hues of gray
Dusk's last light on silent snow
December's own song
MID-JANUARY
BALLET
I can almost
count the flakes
as they
swirl
past the
kitchen window.
Cara's paw
tries to catch them
and then
my pencil
as it
moves across the page.
Writing
and
snowflakes
become
game for my cat
and
balm for my soul
as
winter
rather
gently
dances
her
refrain.
Midst Earth's
lily pads, sacred
Mother of Pearl call:
shimmers Across
blossom the pond,
medallions spring's
white loveliest
pure song:
water solitary
reflections dogwood
in green 'neath pillars
blue of
fir. pine.
AND
SO IT BEGINS
March 20,
2003
Spring has come to Lakeland.
It's not a warm day,
this first day of war--
overcast
but mild enough
for the daycare children
to play
outdoors.
Business as usual for most,
but different enough
for me
to abandon
scheduled class plans.
I read
"Pray for Peace,"
Ellen Bass's
eloquent plea,
and Maya Angelou's
"A Brave and Startling Truth,"
her song for humanity--
and we write
our responses: What
do we feel?
There are open windows
in the day's first class.
Children's
playground sounds
mingle with poets' words
and
students share
both hope and despair.
In my 3 p.m. class,
a solid glass wall
muffles birds' songs
and allows no fresh air.
Robert argues
the Bible's admonition
to obey God's laws
or be punished;
he reminds us,
"Vengeance is mine, saith
the Lord."
Heads nod their agreement.
And at dusk,
in the last class
of my Lakeland day,
I welcome the wind once again.
But former Marine Aaron
gets up and leaves
as we write our responses,
and I fear I have gone too far.
He later returns
to explain:
"'Shock and Awe.'
A clean war, Janet.
Precision bombing.
Less blood.
Less suffering.
Less death.
In and out
in less than a week,"
he promises us all.
At the back
of the last row,
beneath the open window,
Esma from Croatia
lays her head on her desk
and
weeps.
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