“My crown exults with the morning sun.” — The Poet Tree
A bird perches on my branch and leaves
while an insightful dog barks at my inner bark
as the elephant slowly approaches
Around my trunk the elephant wraps his trunk
straining to wrest the rest of me from
my roots, while the flora and fauna root for
the victor they are leaning toward…
either the elephant as it leans forward
or me, as my branches lean sunward
Tired, the elephant lumbers away from my lumber
the insightful dog still barking at my inner bark
as the owl arrives to contemplate root causes
Our thoughts, cloud-rived musings
Transcend the mundane
With this, mountainy
Rise; inspiringly.
Higher, what for them are
Freer, world-detached
With these, winged aslant
Sent. More effective!
Swallows sunward. Till
Mind for peace is still.
Stunned I stare from a rocky shore
As eagle architects swoop and soar.
Avian aerobats stretch my mind.
Carving arcs in cerulean air
Building an aerial cathedral
Framing clear high walls across the sky
With headlong three-sixties upside down
Form gothic spandrels toward the ground
Flickering feathers turned them around
Racing sunward as a fleur de lis
In a uniting swirl upward bound,
Forming a pole for staffing a cross
Construction stopped at the sight of fish.
As if their cathedral struck the sea
Eagles spun in tsunamic circles
Diving for salmon they taloned tight
Flying swiftly off, soon beyond sight.
I shrugged, amazed by what raptors do.
Jet jockeys may but sigh and admire
Eagles flight gift with dreamy desire.
Keepsakes
by Michael R. Burch
"... put out my hand and touched the face ..."
I caress them—trapped in yellowing cellophane—
and I see how young they were, and how unwise;
and I remember their first flight—an old prop plane,
their blissful arc through alien blue skies ...
And I touch them here through leaves which—tattered, frayed—
are also wings, but wings that never flew:
like insects’ wings—pinned, held. Here, time delayed,
their features never changed, remaining two ...
And Grief, which lurked unseen beyond the lens
or in shadows where It crept on feral claws
as It scratched Its way into their hearts, depends
on sorrows such as theirs, and works Its jaws ...
and slavers for Its meat—those young, unwise,
who naively dare to dream, yet fail to see
how, lumbering sunward, Hope, ungainly, flies,
clutching to Her ruffled breast what must not be.
Keywords/Tags: youth, young love, first love, dating, courtship, engagement, marriage, honeymoon, album, picture album, memory, memories, mementos, keepsakes, photo, photos, photograph, photographs, time, grief, loss
Album
by Michael R. Burch
I caress them—trapped in brittle cellophane—
and I see how young they were, and how unwise;
and I remember their first flight—an old prop plane,
their blissful arc through alien blue skies ...
And I touch them here through leaves which—tattered, frayed—
are also wings, but wings that never flew:
like insects’ wings—pinned, held. Here, time delayed,
their features never changed, remaining two ...
And Grief, which lurked unseen beyond the lens
or in shadows where It crept on feral claws
as It scratched Its way into their hearts, depends
on sorrows such as theirs, and works Its jaws ...
and slavers for Its meat—those young, unwise,
who naively dare to dream, yet fail to see
how, lumbering sunward, Hope, ungainly, flies,
clutching to Her ruffled breast what must not be.
Keywords/Tags: youth, young love, first love, dating, courtship, engagement, marriage, honeymoon, album, picture album, memory, memories, mementos, keepsakes, photo, photos, photograph, photographs, time, grief, loss, travel, trip, flight, flying, plane, airplane
Sunward tilts the Earth;
steals away last shade of spring–
sempiternal day…
~ Harley White
Oh sweet bliss...
You found me in darkness enshrined
Sadness collecting like copper pennies
In a fountain of aging lines
With each new alliance
Connections eluded to flavor's waxing bland
Reminiscent of tasteless compliance
And refusing loves fervent advance
Each intriguing and precious
If judged in a mirrored light
But in those elements missing
Prophesied sorrow of wanting's plight
Then oh bliss you granted me flight
A wandering albatross floating
On currents of his gentle affection
Wings spread sunward and doting
The flavor of loves sweet delight
Now I savor your taste oh bliss
His kiss that alights upon my lips
A breathless Sunlight in mornings mist
Strong in love that came so late
This heart of mine he owns
I feared for time that blessed fate
The purest bliss I've ever known
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