June 22, 2009
Summer Solstice 2009
Posted by: Em : Category: poetry
More than once
her limbs have borne chains
Here –
a swing where now only those two links sway, see
how Carol and her grandson sat
reading picture books
those so many summers ago?
There –
that branch held a feeder for winter finches, see
how the cold ground was covered each year in its scattered
seeds,
sunflower shells decorating snow?
On Solstice, this grandmother tree
wraps me in her crab-apple boughs
as the shadows finally begin to lengthen
she tells me her stories as her fruits
fall
dancing
down to Earth
in celebration
in the gentle breeze
in gratitude
I inhale
as if I could stay in this moment forever
as if, together,
we could stretch our arms to hold the last long rays of sunlight
deep into the dark of night,
as if maybe we no longer need these scars
to remember our sacred roots,
to remember the stars
free of chains,
that really are nestled
There –
shining amidst the fluttering ballet
of leaves.
Here –
in Carol’s long gray braid,
in my open palms
