Rebirth
The earth lays brown
covered with ice and snow
until the sun’s rays melts it
awakens the sleeping seeds
dormant within the rich
humus to begin the process
a milligram at a time until
the delicate embryo
sprouts a tender green
stem and pushes hard
imagine how strong the
effort to spring forward
free in the sunshine!
The new green shoot
cracks through struggling
toward the light. Rushing
from the womb of Mother
Earth to feel the touch
of first sunlight
upon the newborn leaves.
Evening
The sun the star of the sky
descends in a death defying slide
until it reaches the horizon where
lavender and pink burst as if an
airplane were skywriting in streams
across the wide expanse
The colors bleed to gray
until light is extinguished
in summer the gap filled
with fireflies dancing over
the grass. Their backs
glowing intermittently
as they flutter in the twilight
Evening comes as a whisper
Always a surprise when the gray
Turns to black as the streetlights
Appear. Hard on the heels of day
Birds begin their evening tweets
Flying to trees for safety and we
Slip back into our homes to
Locked doors and lighted
Living rooms waiting for evening
To turn to night .
Barbara, a retired teacher with a Masters degree in Reading and Writing K-12 and seventeen years of teaching experience lives with her family in Stamford, Connecticut. She has been editing for 4RVPublishing for several years. When she received her Masters degree she began writing seriously. If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor, Barbara’s first YA novel published by MuseItUp Publishing, was inspired by Paula Danziger. In addition she has a story in the anthology: Lavender Dreamsand three poems in Prompted: An International Collection of Poems. Barbara was a NY Literature Examiner for Examiner.com with several articles for them. Her blog, Barbara’s Meanderings, http://barbaraehrentreu.blogspot.com/, is networked on both Facebook and Blog Catalog. She hosts Red River Writers Live Tales from the Pages on Blog Talk Radio every 4th Thursday. In addition, her children's story, “The Trouble with Follow the Leader” and an adult story, “Out on a Ledge” are published online She has written book reviews for Authorlink.com. and several of her reviews have been on Acewriters and Celebrity Café. She is a member of SCBWI. Writing is her life!
Beautiful images in my mind as I read your poems, Barbara. We are gardeners, so I appreciate the thought of all the effort needed for that little sprout to appear in early spring. Lovely peaceful evening. I will remember this when the cold settles in this fall. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, JQ!! Glad you could relate to them:) Sometimes nature creates such peace you have to write about it:) At least I do!
ReplyDeleteLovely, Barbara. Very evocative, I love writing nature poetry too.
ReplyDeleteHugs
Nancy
Nice work, Barbara. I don't know why I am drawn to these lines, perhaps because they are so true?
ReplyDeleteEvening comes as a whisper
Always a surprise when the gray
Turns to black as the streetlights
Appear.
Thank you, Nancy and Linda!!
ReplyDeleteLinda, I guess because when you are outside on a summer evening you don't realize until the streetlights start coming on that it is getting dark. I'm happy you were able to connect with those lines. I guess I have thought those things all my life and then, since you are a writer you understand, they suddenly came together for me.
Barbara, I could hear these verses, with soft music in the background; a hypnotic voice reciting the words. I always enjoy a verse that allows my Muse to do that.
ReplyDeleteI especially sighed at this stanza.
The colors bleed to gray
until light is extinguished
in summer the gap filled
with fireflies dancing over
the grass. Their backs
glowing intermittently
as they flutter in the twilight
Thank you, Claudsy!! I should go on Buddha's website for that.
ReplyDeleteBarbara . . . these are wonderful poems with beautiful images! Such a fluid read with a feeling of harmony. Love your description of color and time of day! Put me into a calm and quiet state of mind! Lovely!
ReplyDeleteBarbara, wonderfully written. These are very special.
ReplyDeleteJanet, I am so happy you enjoyed my poems! They had the effect those scenes had on me!! Thank you for the beautiful words. It's always more wonderful coming from a talented poet.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn, I am thrilled you consider my poems special! Thank you so much!!
Excellent, Barbara. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, De!! You know I never would have subbed these if not for you and our other SAD poets:)
ReplyDelete