ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Shiprock, New Mexico   ~Photo by S. Auberle

Off to the Land of Enchantment and points West, for a while.  Will leave you with a poem from "Crow Ink"...

NEARING SOLSTICE

This morning there were twenty waxwings
in the rowan tree outside my writing room.
The tree's berries are bright
red     cheerful.
Yesterday they danced in snowy gowns
while the wind swirled off the lake.
Today each berry hangs quietly, waiting
to be consumed by voracious birds.

Darkness by four o'clock now
and the ever-shortening days whirl past.
We cook comfort dishes--beef stew,
garlic potatoes     bake chewy, dark bread.
There is wine--red, like berries
and we are busy as the birds,
storing up food and warmth
while the earth turns toward darkness.
Yet time enough to be of good cheer,
savor the meat, the salt and the bread,
dance another of our days away.

Something there is
that says you must know,
we were here...
and oh, how we loved.

ELEVEN ELEVEN ELEVEN

Photo by S. Auberle

ELEVEN ELEVEN ELEVEN

A man tells me how on that day
eleven eleven eleven
at precisely eleven a.m.
he went outside and rang a bell
eleven times for remembrance.

That night in Caroline's Jazz Bar
at precisely eleven eleven
the band stopped playing
for a moment of silence
and then broke into Auld Lang Syne.

Today a friend e-mailed me
what a lovely sunrise that just happened!
and I wrote this small poem.
This, I think, is how peace will come--
one humble step at a time.

NOVEMBER, SNOW & ROSES

Photo by S. Auberle


I come bearing tea, bread, and poetry
to talk about sadness
this rain-slashed afternoon
with you, my shiny friend
the one who makes me smile
but today you are sad
it's the leaves, you say,
they let go so gently
this late in the year, as if
finally, they have accepted...

from a work in progress...