I see you
in the distance
across a roomful of heads,
tall and silent
watching them with a
pleasant blankness-
a smile that turns your mouth
but doesn’t light your eyes.
You stand above
conversation,
listening without interest,
putting in the time
required for politeness.
My eyes call to you
and you turn,
one eyebrow raises a greeting
and your lips rise with it,
I see the flash of gladness,
as you incline your head
and step toward my love.
Some years,
September exits in a swish of scarlet, and
October dawns dappled in gold.
But this year,
October is opulent in shimmering emerald velvet.
Forests hold back their adornment.
The morning whispers on wisps of fog beyond
“I will wait.”
All around the lake, summer aches for more time,
grips tight to verdant hues,
and as October embraces green
its ochre arms
bide
the firey glory
of autumn.
I was lying in the bath, trying to think of a sentence that summarizes my life at the moment and I came up with
“I am home”
This summarizes my essential contentment with everything in my life: my new continuing contract at a school I love, opportunity to write and receive feedback from wonderful readers, and my brilliant husband of many, many years and the time we have together.
That just seemed too simple, so I thought of 6 word poems, and decided I needed 3 more words, and ended up with,
“Wherever I am, I am home”
Now I feel like a philosopher. 🙂
I first discovered this concept when I was an exchange student in Finland, and I realised that even though I was known as ‘The Canadian Evangelist” (because as the lone Canadian in my district, lost in a sea of Americans, I was obliged to be loud and proud about national superiority) I knew that I could quite happily have stayed in Finland. I have experienced this sensation many times since. If you’re content in your skin, and you’re connected to those around you, it doesn’t matter where you are physically. You can live in a tent and be well satisfied.
Explaining it completely defeats the purpose of it being only 6 words, doesn’t it? lol
How about you? What’s your 6 word poem? (with or without long-winded explanation!) 😉
Your angel wings brush
across my memory and hum
with melancholy song.
“and so,” you said, “that’s it.”
You turned off the light
and closed the door.
I blinked in darkness
waiting
because
“it”
was not really
“that.”
The scent of salt tousles
hair and jackets. It paints waves and
caresses the dunes
Soft words
across my pillow:
promises,
light,
dreams,
on the breath
of possibility.
A lone loon
intones a poem
lingering long
across the lake.
Its echoing call’s
a prayer chant.
Summer song
whispered on the water
Lonely loon
listens for his lover
lost in
melancholy memories
of sun sambas on waves.
Haunting ghost calls
as cabins close
and summer dies.
.
.
If you haven’t heard a loon call, here is a nice video that captures the mournful quality of their song:
Illuminated sky,
brazing forest surrounds us.
Pile life in the car
Ghostly rain of pine needles
That are powder at my touch.
.
This month is the tenth anniversary of the Okanagan Mountain Fire. In 2003 this devastating fire surrounded the hills in Kelowna, led to the evacution of 27,000 people (including my parents). 239 buildings were destroyed. As we were evacuating my parents, ash was falling from the sky. When we looked into our boxes later, they had many grey pine needles in, but when I reached to pick them out, they dissolved.
Gentle jade waters
leap in frothy white tutus
and wear down mountains
.
.
As I was driving to Calgary today over the Rockies, I passed all sorts of lovely waterfalls with the prettiest pale green water. As I drove along, of course I composed a poem!
Shawn L. Bird 