A CENTO

Photo/Sketch by S. Auberle

AND NIGHT IS ALL

(a Cento)

a settlement of snow

shining there

in the moonlight

the sky is pure and whole

here we lie

entranced

by the starlit water

where the weight of life

has been lifted

and made light

we have become beautiful

without even knowing it

~ mimi

(a cento, for those of you who are unfamiliar with this poetic form, is a compilation of lines--one each--from other poets, and combined in a new way. Yes, it's legal, no it's not plagiarism, the form actually goes back to Homer and Vergil--so if it's good enough for those cats, it's good enough for me!)

MARCH DAY ON THE POND

Photo/Illustration by S. Auberle

foxes are pairing up now

coyotes singing their love songs

birds still in dull winter coats

dreaming, perhaps

of nuptial plumage...

six days till calendar spring

~ mimi

(lines from "Late Winter at the Clearing")

ASHES TO ASHES

Sedona sculpture-artist unknown

Ash Wednesday- 1949

Church of the Holy Angels...

I'm six years old

kneeling before the altar

fingers rubbing my forehead

the priest whispers above me

ashes to ashes

dust to dust...

my small body trembles

Ash Wednesday- 2011...

Church of Red Earth

I'm sixty-something

kneeling in a crater

where lava once poured down.

I rub dirt on my forehead

find a potsherd

remember those

buried beneath me,

their bones

only red dust

on my jeans...

~ mimi

SPRING SNOW

Photo collage by S. Auberle

in the mirror

of memory

my young face

vanishing

like spring

snow

~ mimi