Sunlight and Shadows

Finding poetry in star dust, sunbeams, and passing clouds

Category: Nature

  • Lawn Party

    After the chugging blade I trudge

    Shredding stems of grass

    Into confetti strewn in starburst spray

    Ahead, the long, unruly mane

    Behind, a close-cropped sheen

    Earth’s crisp soft hairdo for a brand new day

    ,

  • Morning Walk

    I walked along a wide cool street

    As the sun was rising

    Yawning beams of light above the rooftops

    Crisp leaves skittered past my feet

    Flecks of gold horizon

    Dewdrops perched on twigs in glassy drops

    I felt the bite of autumn’s chill

    Riding cloud wings in

    Chasing off the lingering asphalt heat

    Brittle scents of dried things spilled

    Like syrup on my skin

    Mixed with earthy mums and pumpkins sweet

    I heard the honking call of geese

    In V-shapes through the sky

    Towboat fleets escorting winter here

    While squirrels leapt through turning trees

    To bury nuts nearby

    And build warm burrows to sleep out the year

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  • Autumn Evening

    I remember those September nights a’rocking on the porch

    With the easy evening breezes licking round the candle torch

    Golden splashes, shadowed lashes in the fading dusky light

    Flickered flames like mentioned names that all dissolve into the night

    Wood joints clicking, needles picking yarn up in tight stitches

    Crickets pattering, sparrows chattering down in brushy ditches

    Killdeer keening, red hawks preening out in half bare trees

    Furry flashes – rabbit dashes through dry cornfield seas

    Wood smoke thinned on the wind, tendrils whispering of fall

    Russet scent of cornhusks spent, first of harvest’s haul

    Cooling tea beside my knee of chamomile and mint

    Wafting slow in low sun’s glow, a pearl of china glint

    Sunset brushes red rouge blushes over rippling plains

    Darkness washes liquid splashes, spreading azure stains

    Pinpoint stars from sprinkled jars wink across the sky

    Summer night and pale moonlight, a memory lullaby

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  • Dreamland

    Dusk falls in a lullaby

    Rosy clouds caress the sky

    Every bird flies to its nest

    Animals and insects rest

    Music from the stars sings down

    Lyrics for the moon’s sweet sound

    And children tucked into their beds

    Nod off to sleep with weary heads

    Dream sweetly on until the dawn

    ,

  • Play

    Rolling, rolling down the hill

    Summer evening breezes play

    Tickling grass stalks on my skin

    Smell of sunshine, dirt, and clay

    Over and over the world turns

    Sky and lawn and sky again

    The tumbling force of gravity

    Graceful as a top I spin

    ,

  • Marblehead Light

    I stand in utter darkness, thick and deep

    Below, the rough waves crash on endlessly

    Around me, stinging wind and cold rain weep

    And yet I set my eyes in faith before me

    For the one hope in this uncertainty

    And there it comes, a beam of clear green light

    In steadfast rhythm shines on fearlessly

    A compass beacon sent to land and sea

    The faithful lighthouse guides worn travelers through the night

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