|
Click title to download PDF microchap
Cover collage by JanK with background
by Lauri Burke
•
|
Darkness a Sea
From the stratosphere’s frigid canopy
After twilight disappears
Cities seem like islands,
Latticed strands of woven light
Fragile, brittle
Easily snapped in half,
The hungry void a sea around them
Barely held at bay
Lapping at their very edge.
Hovering just beneath an iron veil
Sunset’s final glow
Burns molten, a dying forge,
An ember amidst ashes
Consumed til dawn
As little homes outlying,
Akin to stranded boats
Glitter far apace each other
Anchored in patient exile.
Where You’ll Find Me
Black crows caw a serenade
Over a dry creek bed
Autumn’s ruddy showers lie crackled
Atop spring’s green shoots
Demure daffodils nod in a chill breeze
Butter oxalis enthroned in clover carpets
Sun-warmed stone walls refract
Dusty scent of moss and dry twigs.
Amid these your voice weaves
Like the wind’s murmur roars
Through nature’s skyscrapers
Transmuted echoes of nearby shores
Summoned from my lucid dreams
Calling me to stay and make this home.
Confession
As a girl I longed to be a Disney princess
to sing like an angel, to so easily delight
forest creatures, to have long lovely locks.
Alas, my voice dulcet is not, my laugh a harsh
witch’s cackle. Animals do not readily
approach me, not without a savory bribe.
My hair is brown and coarse, my skin dry,
and what spells I weave I do with pen
and paper, my magic words, not swords.
|
Shedding
At any one time I’m sure
We’ve five cats instead of four;
The fifth one is merely spread
In fine strands across the floor.
Ode to Mimi
Tail like an ostrich plume
Legs wrapped in furry pantaloons
Stripes of blacks and grays and browns
Sweetest face a ruff surrounds
A purr deep in her chest resounds
As she her siblings groom.
Snippet of a Morning
Standing up, my muscles seize
Feel pain growing in my knees
Let dogs in from barking trees
Foot bones aching as they freeze
Silly cats leap, pounce, and tease
Ben’s Bell jingles in the breeze
Hear the rustle of dry leaves
Take a second now to sneeze
Slice a chunk or three of cheese
Coffee not enough to squeeze
Brain cells into action please.
Waking Up
Quiet looms the pre-dawn stillness
As all the creatures wait
To see the sun climb o’er the hills,
The world its rays to wake.
I sit and blink my bleary eyes,
My kitten on her chair;
We feel the morning chill
Shift slightly in the air.
The windchime sings a gentle song
Outside my open door.
The sun trips on the mountain peaks;
Its light spills on my floor.
One sleepy hand caresses
My fluffy little miss.
In return for my devotion,
She gives a raspy kiss.
•
Carol Edwards © 2021
|
Carol Edwards is a northern California native transplanted to southern Arizona. She lives and works in relative seclusion with her books, plants, and pets (2 dogs, 5 cats, + husband). She grew up longing for the fantasy worlds of C.S. Lewis, Peter Beagle, and J.R.R. Tolkien.