Yes, No, Maybe
Through Waters
by Sandra Herbert
They feed me
these grains of rice that nourish my body
and give rise to beliefs
that children's hands should pluck through waters
shielding eyes from the whipping sun
and I slather this meal with butter
forgetting the mud huts and grassy plains
babies suckling at breasts with no milk
and no hope
Ah, but the hope to one day grow up crooked
hungry, uneducated, unholy, unhopeful
plucking through waters
Nature's Cathedral
by Kelly Sharp
Mockingbird sings call to worship
I the lone parishioner sit
Reverently beneath live beams
Oh what lovely swaying branches
Oak, sycamore, sweet gum, pine
Foliage's colorful canopy
Through which shines glory's light divine
Every vivid color illumed
Autumnal gold, jewel red, orange
With what is left of summer's green
Are pagan cathedral's stained glass
Nature's abstract tangled prism
A choir of cicadas perform
Splendid anthem, praise and worship
Pious crow delivers sermon
Cleric clad, iridescent cloak
His pulpit the high stately oak
Who would nod off to this stern one
His message, CAW! well delivered
Heard and completely understood
Meant for the forest's common good
Oh Amen! I shout brother crow
The whisper of leaves forgiven
For the tones so hushed do lend here
Such a worshipful restfulness
The Reverend lifts voice so clear
To offer one parting blessing
A rare poignant doxology
With powerful black wing beating
He's feathered angel ascending,
Leaving me his one congregant
In this olden cathedral's
Primitive, ancient sanctuary
Awed, respectful, mindful and moved
I am completely born again
Sycamore Swing
by Dana Sieben
My mother's swing beckons
At night under the sycamore tree.
In the moonlight,
It whispers to me of memories.
As stars shine so brightly
And I swing softly
And soak in the night mists,
My feet covered in wet, cut grass,
Remembering my mother singing
While shelling peas here --
Singing Rock of Ages and Amazing Grace -
Humming and rocking.
Tonight insomnia is my companion,
But it allows me to enjoy
My mother's back yard
And my memories one last time
Before I have to leave for home.
The Roots That Connect Me
by Emcee Escher
Sometimes I feel like this life is like a cliff's face,
I cling tight and can't afford to make a mistake,
I'm ambivalent towards how I feel to this Earth,
I love it and hate it, I've vacillated, back and forth,
My amorous feelings towards this world are amorphous,
Nebulous with no shape or borders,
This world is labrythine curvy like a snake,
And I'm trying to decide which path to take,
Or if I even have a choice, I make noise and act boisterous,
Just to raise my voice, like a chorus, as manifold
people have before us,
But I won't abort give up this life, no matter how ill I feel,
'Cause tides turn like a wheel and so do feelings,
And every piece of the pie of life is me,
From the lovesongs and trees, to the SUV's,
I find the roots the connect me to every living thing,
Like a link from my pinky to all the dead kings...
Suspended
by Adam Jeffries Schwartz
There's a moment when you tip too far backwards--
and you know you can't go back, you can't right yourself.
You're going to fall;
there's nothing you can do, nothing you would want to do, really.
You're happy floating:
you're suspended like an angel or a ghost--
you're not sure which,
you don't care either.