Winter
Spring
Summer
Fall
Note: This celebration of the seasons is inspired by Ailsa at Where’s My Backpack. She offered a fun quote by George Carlin: Think off-center. Achieving balance despite being off-center is one of my aims. Do you think I managed even though my subjects are off-center? My theme is in honor of the seasons because we are nearly in-between, moving here from spring to summer in a few days.
in-between
off-center
but in balance
Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham
winter scarred, care worn
gazing at eternity
lion without pride
remembers school vacation
three playful cubs squabbling
Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: Hurray for vacation week! Tomorrow is the Boston marathon. Hope you all have a great week. Be healthy and be safe! Warmly, Brenda
Salutations small Siberian Squill,
Rising from the icy dregs of a hill.
Bowing in breezes on a fairy mound,
Its still shadow doesn’t make any sound.
After Lady Winter’s chill ermine shroud,
Its azure beauty makes me sing out loud.
Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: This drooping blue beauty is Scilla siberica, one of the earliest blooming bulbs. I apologize for not having time to comment on posts this week. My van is in the shop, my middle child is on crutches, my novel deadline is looming and I’m nowhere near done. My kids will soon be on spring break. If only I had more time, or more brains or more hands. Something. Meanwhile, at least there’s magic! Hope you have a great week! Warmly, Brenda
Catkin young,
Soft, sage and fuzzy,
Catkin brave,
No leaves are open,
Catkin cold,
Snow freezes toes.
Catkin grow!
Early sign of spring.
Catkin open:
When ripe but soon!
Catkin bloom:
Bring back the birds.
Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: Fingers crossed for spring here. Someday soon, we’ll have blooms here, and lots of spring-green shoots! For another catkin poem, see Catkin Fuzzy.
Oak leaf rimed,
Bleached winter white,
Stark skeleton aglow.
A bit of starlight,
Its light grown white,
A transient in the universe,
The writing is plain:
An early calling card
Of Lady Spring’s visit.
Perhaps I’ll pour the tea,
Remembering heat,
Wishing for sunlight.
Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: I’ll lift my teacup in a toast to Lady Spring, whose velvety green cloak will swirl around us any day. And I’ll dedicate this ghostly post to Poetry Friday, this week hosted by a wonderful children’s poet, Amy Ludwig VanDerwater, at her blog, The Poem Farm. It’s National Poetry Month, and the kidlitosphere is lit by the radiance of many special events, some listed by Jama, the Poetry Potentate. If you like poetry, you can dine until sated this month!
Winter light dwindles to a pale sunset.
Sycamore bark peels in patches.
Ever on sentry duty, an eye on the horizon,
Glowing like a desert landscape,
The silent tree watches for
Spring, as winter melts away.
Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham
pink morning light
gilds young trees, knee-deep in ice
thousands of diamonds
break light into rainbows,
blinding me to spring
Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: Tanka is defined in Oak Leak Tanka. This photograph was taken this spring. You can compare it to a picture taken last winter of the same trees in Five Brothers Tanka. This poem is in honor of Poetry Friday, hosted this week by Check it Out.
Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham
Thwomp-Boom, ice dams fall.
Birds sing as sunshine strengthens.
Drip, drip, icicle lengthens;
When will the snow go?
Canada Geese waddle into traffic,
Honking: Where’s the ground?
Where can food be found?
When will the snow go?
Cars honk back; engines roar.
Traffic stalls and goggles at geese.
Is it spring despite me wearing fleece?
When will the snow go?
Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham
This Poetry Friday is wrangled by Author Amok. May your inner child be joyful this weekend!
Note: I was driving back from the pediatrician with my son, who clonked his head on the ice Sunday night (he has a mild concussion and will be fine), when two prosperous-looking Canada Geese waddled right across the busy road. The sight of them in the road is unusual, they generally congregate on grassy lawns. It reminded me that the wild things are even more inconvenienced by the remaining mountains of snow than I am. And that spring is nearly here!! Woo-hoo! The geese have returned! Given I was driving, I didn’t get a picture of them.
With puddles and ice
Lining sidewalks and streets,
I remember leaves.
First, the tease of buds.
Then the unfurling of
New leaves, palest green,
Sidewalks awash in bud casings.
Leaves as backdrop to the blooming of
Dogwoods, tulip magnolias, pink cherries,
White pear and apple,
Mauve plum and citrine cassia.
Continue reading
Pink
Twirl,
Calla curl,
Silky swirl.
Snow may hide
New England’s color,
But trucked-in treasure
Startles and entrances,
My heart dances —
A wild whirl.
Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham
Notes:
On the poem: This is a concrete or shape poem, meant in this case to take the shape of a calla lily.
On the weather: We’ve had one day of sunshine, with temperatures above freezing. Old Man Winter is not gone, but at least he’s growing sleepy. The Calla Lilies are from Trader Joe’s, where the floral section is a summer garden. Here is a picture better reflecting what it still looks like outdoors here:
On Poetry Friday: super-late this week, but life gets in the way at times. Thanks to Robyn Campbell, Kids Author and Poet, for hosting!
What slumbers on
Evergreen boughs —
Snow? Or is it more?
Are they angels slippers
Left as tokens of love?
Are they lacy linen
For mountain troll tea?
Or dryad eiderdowns?
Maybe royal cloaks swirled
Round highland princelings.
Or white fairy dream-dust,
Spun from dancing and mischief.
Perhaps each icy crystal is a
Frozen wish, yet to be granted.
The clouds have floated down
To kiss the children of earth,
Pausing to embrace entwined trees.
Copyright 2015 Brenda Davis Harsham
Note: More snow is due tonight. I hear Northern Maine has over eleven feet and counting. Makes our eight feet seem paltry. I hope you are warm and safe and having magical thoughts.
Friendly Fairy Tales 