Snow Queen

Snow Queen

The Snow Queen’s dressed in a gown of white
A tiara of icicles, glistening bright
Shoes of crystal, wand of light
On this sparkling winter’s night.

Kimberly Dunn

Dawn

Dawn

Dawn blushed; betrayed her waking sky
To gently break another morrow fine.
Night waned – the black receding – highland
Reaching for the early morning wine.

The chorus rendered frantic caws and
Chirps and other avian song,
Mapping out the 'mine and yours, ' and
Goading more to sing along!

Quiescent water – deep of lake –
Reflected out the hazy red, but
Through the glass, a flick, a break:
An urgent tail from hidden bed!

And in the meadow, waking faces
Calmly spread a coloured veil;
The dew disclosing spider laces –
Oft with once a fly’s travail!

Dawn blushed; revealed her inner peace;
She handed on another blissful day.
Night ebbed, relenting to release of
Warming blood that gives to her display.


Copyright © Mark R Slaughter 2010

Great Oak

Great Oak

Ancient, yet steeped in wisdom;
Massive, yet enlightening;
Never tired of growing or vexed by seasons,
You stand glorious in summer;
Monumental in winter.

And as you overlook your forest
With sagacious governance,
They all defer to you - dependence in hand:
Children of the undergrowth;
Arboreal underlings.

Veneration earned, you now command
The awe that few can.

Ever graceful, your evangelistic branches
Cast their serene shadow
Of reassuring calm.

Mark R Slaughter

Choices

Choices

I go to the mountain side
of the house to cut saplings,
and clear a view to snow
on the mountain. But when I look up,
saw in hand, I see a nest clutched in
the uppermost branches.
I don’t cut that one.
I don’t cut the others either.
Suddenly, in every tree,  
an unseen nest
where a mountain  
would be.

by Tess Gallagher

Changing Seasons

Changing seasons

As the leaves turn from green to oranges and reds,
I know that is the way the world tells us it is time for a change.

As the heat dissapears into cold,
we put away our summer toys,
and bring out ones to play with in the cold.

When you take in a deep breath,
there is a smell in the air.
and you can only smell it in fall and winter.

You know when the leaves turn from green to oranges and reds,
summer is over and that means fall and winter are comming.
You have been warned by the nature all around.

by Rylee 2008