Never Still

light shifts in the trees,
fallen leaves tumble and turn,
going with the flow

beached downstream for a moment
before another wind comes

Copyright 2023 Brenda Davis Harsham Continue reading

Turning a Corner

July is midway, 
roses climb, lilies dance, but
summer is half gone

Copyright 2022 Brenda Davis Harsham Continue reading

One Wish

Elder weed sends up 
starry-white flowers, 
mini-Queen Anne’s lace. 
Its rhizome roots 
crowd out hapless 
coral bells and astilbe 
under our pear tree. Continue reading

Beware the Ides of March

Be you a young Russian soldier 
doing as you’re told or 
a young Ukrainian,
castaway 
from home, Continue reading

Storms are Coming

storms are coming,
as the skies grow dark, remember,
you can’t dodge the rain 

Copyright 2021 Brenda Davis Harsham Continue reading

Spring-like July

how I miss spring’s 
dazzle and swirling petals 
of lilacs and pears; 

this wet July brings to mind 
those cool, delicious days 

Copyright 2021 Brenda Davis Harsham Continue reading

A Day for Mothers

White blossoming pear tree with sun shining through

a day for mothers, 
pear blooms scented by lilacs 
dapple the sunshine 

Copyright 2021 Brenda Davis Harsham Continue reading

Snowdrop Spring

Snowdrops appear; 
Robin Redbreast 
draws near. Continue reading

Healing

Weave your story 
with mine, 
and we will never 
live alone. 

Copyright 2021 Brenda Davis Harsham

Notes: If you have time, watch the incandescent poem below, the inspiration for my poem, found when I went looking for wind and waves. At this time of too many divisions, let’s remember the past and honor each others’ stories. We need to unite, fight the virus, not each other. 

Oral Traditions
— William Nu’Utupu Giles and Travis T.

Continue reading

Ode to Photography

Time,
present and past.
Frozen moments,
remembered and forgotten.
Beauty,
ordinary and extraordinary.

Photographic power
reveals in light and dark
what my mother looked like as
a young girl,
or my father as
he welcomed me to the world,
or myself
as I smiled between
brother and sister
whose faces are only visible
in black and white now.

Lost faces, missed warmth, people
linger in shades, lines, and shapes,
like hieroglyphics of the past.

Copyright 2020 Brenda Davis Harsham

Notes: For World Photography Day today, I offer this ode, in gratitude for how concrete my memories are, of times past.

Colors Unbounded

IMG_2528

All colors
should be free
to be,
to be as covered in glory
or as mired in earth
as needed,
or to stretch between the two,
bowing faces to roots or
lifting shining faces
in sunshine, Continue reading

Glorious Color

IMG_3282

As the cardinal calls
pretty, pretty, pretty,
apple blossoms
quiver like
cabbage butterflies
in lilac-scented sunshine. Continue reading