Pods
Look like
Green gators,
Snapping at air,
Hungry mouths open,
Toothy grin spilling silk:
Brownies harvest, spin and weave
Gossamer Fairy Court dresses.
Milkweed’s a Monarch butterfly house:
Holds eggs and feeds baby caterpillars.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: This poem is an etheree, a form that starts with one syllable on the first line and increases to 10, one syllable per line.
Citrine, amber, sage, russet, claret,
Green of tree and brown of earth:
Every autumn shade gleams
Between its yellow veins.
Tiny fairies ride wind swells on it:
A magic carpet to buzz bushes and skim ponds.
Three baby hedgehogs with shivering quills
Hide beneath it, from a cold rain.
Then it’s sewn into a cape for the Harvest Queen,
She of the forest and glen,
It swirls like an autumn rainbow.
Its folds flash between dancing courtiers,
As all the fairies make merry.
Soon the bitter winds will blow.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Goldenrod has grown long yellow fingers.
A crowd of eager mums are mid-laugh as
Hedgehogs nibble skunk cabbage.
Even white snakeroot,
Abloom at the wood’s edge,
Looks deceptively harmless,
But the deer leave it be.
Purple asters open wide, tiny but cheery.
Summer fairies line their beds with milkweed down,
Make quilts of hydrangea petals and
Dodge spiky, armoured chestnuts.
Dahlias bloom, large as dinner plates.
Happy Fall!
Note: The autumnal equinox is September 23, 2014, and this is the day summer changes to fall in the Northern Hemisphere, where I live in the USA. The earth is now tilting away from the sun and we will have shorter days and less warmth for 6 months.
Wonderful witchy flowers
Vivid visions
Spread smiles
Sing in sunshine
Fascinate fairies
Enchant elves
Bewitch bees
Weaken my knees
Even the sky weeps
With longing
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Red dragon, hidden on a green stalk,
Do you enjoy the cool rain?
You must bank your fires, release your heat,
To embrace your opposite.
Imagination spirals in the red,
Peace is possible for all.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Deep in the wildwood,
Beneath the green leaves,
Hide a welter of wee folk.
They play tricks, keep their secrets,
Hobnob with toads and kiss dragonflies.
Tuesdays, they take tea with an elderly dragon,
Nibbling hazelnut tarts and sunshine flan.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Just draw in your breath,
Focus on a wish and blow your cares away!
Let your inner child laugh for joy.
The dandelion seeds will scatter,
Carrying your desires to the wind spirits.
May all your wishes some true.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
fine golden dust
gilds the lily, draws wee folk
fairy footprints shine
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
With treacle, a radish and bee’s knees,
Fae Rose grew apricot roses with ease.
She turned away blight,
With joy and delight,
And her ladybugs gave aphids a squeeze.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: This poem is a limerick, rhyming AABBA.
Among the white yacht-trees,
Zipping near and far,
Marina fairies splash and play,
Sleek, trim and yar.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Magic hides in the quiet spaces:
Weights lift in the greening.*
Tree branches and bark take shapes
In the corner of the eye;
Lights flicker like fairies dancing.
A turned head, and the magic’s gone.
An arched bridge holds infinite
Possibilities for revealing
Secrets, just over the crest.
Only children can climb it.
Invite the magic to sup jasmine tea
And nibble an almond sweet,
And soon the whole day seems a dream.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
* Note: This use of “greening” is meant to refer to the process of feeling younger in a garden, feeling the years drop away and spirits lift. Greening can be defined as the return to youthful characteristics.
Frog was completely alone! Toad was worried: was Frog sad? Frog answered: “I am happy. I am very happy. This morning when I woke up, I felt good because the sun was shining. I felt good because I was a frog. And I felt good because I have you for a friend. I wanted to be alone. I wanted to think about how fine everything is.”
— Arnold Lobel, from Days with Frog and Toad, Alone
Today the sun was shining,
Breeze and sense of ease, entwining.
The frogs were swimming,
All the world was grinning.
Dragonfly fairies danced,
The scent of lilies entranced.
Copyright 2014 Brenda Davis Harsham
Friendly Fairy Tales 