the art of taking note
Still I Go
Though tired
Or held
Suspended, frozen in
Mid air
Because of You I go
Though mired
In the madness
Afraid or all
Alone
Because of Grace I go
Though filled with an uncertainty
Whose root is still
Unknown
Buoyed by Mercy’s sweet, soulful song
Because of Hope I go
+++++++++++
joining my friend Sandy for Still Saturday
+++
The Neighbor
In cryptic cursive he penned
words of gratitude
my cold heart
wondered at the knock
hid behind
unknowing
shameful
that
on a cold and wintry day
I should wonder what he wants
when all he brought
was his small note
an offering
and laid it by the door
words of thankfulness
I sit
with guilted
pain
ashamed
that I would rest in vain
repose
frozen
slow to do the same
pen a note of telling
how it is I feel
black pen on gilded cards
left staring at a
hand that cannot write
a few short lines of humble
thanks
I learned from him
the neighbor sent to me
with a shaky cursive hand
still fresh from loss and grief
who poured
into a 2×3
sincerity
this kind response sat at my door
one day when I was covered up in grief
who taught him how to love the sky
at night, I found him staring
at it ablaze, in oranges and reds
I’ve seen him smile and stare
gazing heavenward
awash in grief
I weep at my
ingratitude
oh January finds me
in desperate need
to write a letter
release it from my cold and thankless heart
and had he used the mailbox
rather than my door
I might have missed the chance to
be shaken
by a simple act
I heard the screen open
then
slam and hit the door
awakened by my
neighbor
the neighbor
in cryptic cursive, he penned
words of gratitude.
Letting Go
Go poem,
Words, go
Whether it be early or late
Or timed with perfection
You were born in a heart of passion
Raised up to be released
Born of the seed of God gift
Never formed for staying put.
Go art,
Poems, go
Go make your home in a heart
That weeps for encouragement
Cries for beauty, is starved for it
Longs for healing in a wounded place
Land and light and harbor in
The refuge of another’s sight.
Go lines
Art, go
Go and make your way through dark and lonely
Streets and hopeless hearts
Spark a flame, fuel it, fan it
Heat the cold and frozen places
Be a word that thaws
The soul, the frigid place within another’s heart.
Art,
be what you were called to be.
and be it away from me.
Fly on the wings of dove, in peace
And great horned owl, so wise
Hitch a ride on strong brown pelican
Strap yourself to wings of great blue heron.
Go in peace
to the place
You
Were meant
To call your new
Home.
____________________
Joining friend Jennifer Lee today
Drips grey like a leaky fountain pen
Spills battleship, concrete, slate and
Every shade in between
Blanketing the tops of trees, no leaves
Vulnerable, branches bear, shaking at the root
In the frigid air
Suspended in a cavernous sky
Frozen
Like a
Monochromatic monstrosity
The canvas wide and bleak
She sees
Sees past the bullying mid-winter blues
Yes, January
Keeps a secret
Hides it in the vortex of a
Cross- continental
Arctic blast.
Longing and desire
Grow in
Fallow fields
Laid to rest and wait
Patient in her knowing that the future is redeemable
There is hope
Oh what restless souls we are
Missing the beauty buried in the
Aching earth
Cold and lonely for new growth
But January says
Hold on
I am the doorway through which you step
Gateway
From cold and void
To feasts and merriment
Hold on fast in dormant days
And know the season
Of rejoicing lies this way.
Oh January
Help us see
The beauty that is in the days
So cold and gray, seeming barren
Nestled in a quiet snowy wait
Point us to the future where
Color spills out new birth like grace
On the other side of
A world
Colored but for a moment
In endless shades of grey.
+++++++++++
Joining friends Sandra and Deidra
.
elizabeth w. marshall 