Tuesday, April 30, 2013

With a Splash of Red Stayed my Fear Hiding


With a splash of red stayed my fear hiding
In a small black box
Before the dim dusk.

Four fat cats sat high and indifferent
And the cheerless self crawled behind.

Slower than the non-existent
The dawdling cruel thought
The gray common thought.

Still the self cowered at the black sky
While sweet harp music played behind.

Whisper through lips stayed my fear sliding
Sliding the spine up
Before the dim dusk.

Four fat cats sat high and indifferent
The towering trees cast shadows behind.

Thorny it’s not, like wide-eyed wakefulness
The fat ponderous thought
The slow sluggish thought.

There stood myself at a black mountain
The satisfied stone whispered again.

Rocks in heart stayed my fear hiding
The flat-lined heart kept me behind.

Brighter they’re not than comfortable life
The dull fat thoughts
The squat relaxed thoughts.

Still looming large over the red valley
The unfortunate self stifled again.

With a splash of red stayed my fear hiding
In a small black box
Before the dim dusk.

Four fat cats sat high and indifferent
Truth rose up and set me free!

~kathie adams brown (April 30, 2013)


Prompt 30:  Rewrite a poem using words that mean the opposite

This poem is my version of the opposite of All in Green Went my Love Riding by e.e. cummings.


Monday, April 29, 2013

Sunday Morning Litany in the Desert in Spring

Palo Verde Blossoms

Sunshine
Coffee on the patio
Mesquite trees in flower
Pollen everywhere
Goldfinches flittering
Roses in bloom,
Sunshine in the morning,
Shade in the afternoon.

Sunshine
Potted geranium by my chair
Lizards tumble in the yard
White-winged doves serenade
Hummingbirds hovering,
Palo Verde trees in bloom,
Insects a-buzzing,
Sunshine in the morning,
Shade in the afternoon.

Sunshine
Cactus wrens are calling,
Yellow blossoms on prickly pear,
A coronet of creamy blossom
Atop towering saguaros
Sky as blue as a lizard’s belly,
Ocatillos are in bloom,
Sunshine in the morning,
Shade in the afternoon,
It's springtime in the desert,
It's springtime in the desert,
It's Spring!

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 29, 2013)

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Juxtoposition


Loneliness and Solitude—two
States of being, similar in one respect,
In both, one is alone, but
With solitude one is renewed
And refreshed;
The heart swells with life and is calmed;
But loneliness is a soul eating beast,
Leaving one empty and filled with sadness.

~kathie adams brown (April 27, 2013)


Day 27

Nonsense at Night


And indeed, there will be time to wonder
Do I dare and do I dare count the birds
Again and again?
Are there birds where I will be?
Will the birds fly to me?
Will I know what I see?
Counting birds like counting crows                                  
It’s all in the way it goes
Should I learn to like this thing?
Will it take me over, make me sing?
I am counting all the time,
So often there’s not time to rhyme.
I missed my poem, I missed my song
and now the birds will sing along,
The bottom line, at least for me
when you’re tired, don’t write poetry!

~kathie adams brown (April 26, 2013)

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

I Remember the Girl


You look at me and what do you see?
White hair, thick middle, varicose veins?
I am getting old, it’s true.
We all do
But inside I am young, fierce, and passionate!
I can remember my long brown hair,
My slender waist,
My muscular legs.
I can remember leaping a brook,
jumping from stone to stone like a doe.
I can remember running through green pastures full of waist high grass
My long hair streaming behind me like a mane,
feeling as frisky as a young filly.
I can remember climbing trees like a monkey and
gazing down through the foliage at the ground
so far below.
I can remember swimming strong in the ocean,
Riding waves on my belly,
And rolling up on the sand to the sounds of seagulls calling.
Yes, I was young once—we all are;
Once.

And I can remember the girl.

~kathie adams brown (April 24, 2013)

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Just a Little Irony


I want to write a triolet
I’d better hurry-don’t waste time,
I haven’t thought of one quite yet
A couplet poem built with rhyme,
I’d better hurry—don’t waste time,
If you are counting, lay your bets,
I want to write a triolet
I’d better hurry-don’t waste time!


~Kathie Adams Brown (April 23, 2013)


Prompt 23: Write a Triolet

Monday, April 22, 2013

The Deer on the Hill





















In solitude and silence
In the evening along the marsh
I walk
Listening for birds
Feeling the gray mists roll in
Obscuring my view
Yet wrapping me in silence
Enhancing the solitude
Lost in my own thoughts
 A sweet peace envelopes me and then—I see them
The deer on the hill
And we are together
Alone in this benediction.

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 22, 2013)


Promt 22: Write an Earth Day Poem

Friday, April 19, 2013

Innocence


Innocence—
A sleeping baby-the standard,
A little girl in a flowered dress in a field of flowers,
A little boy up to bat for the first time with his eyes shining,
Friday night ice-cream cones,
Puppies, kittens and colts,
Bottle feeding a baby goat,
Swinging on a Tarzan swing,
Splashing in the old creek swimming hole,
Carving a Halloween jack-o-lantern,
Winter sledding with hot chocolate and marshmallows,
This list should be longer!
Why is it so hard to remember
Innocence?

~Kathie Adams Brown (4-19-2013)


Prompt 18: Write a poem beginning and ending with the same word.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Running Home

Santa Rita Mountains, Tucson, AZ 2010

















What is this that awakens me?
What is this pull I feel?
I rise on a sunny morning,
I get into my car and drive,
I pass beneath a Swainson’s hawk circling above,
I leave the city streets behind.
Around me, the desert opens wide—
I feel my mind relaxing
As each mile falls behind,
And then I see the wonder
Of this wild place
Each mile draws me closer
To these cactus covered slopes
Where birds fly free in a pale blue sky,
Where birds nest in pale green scrub,
Where mountain peaks rise up and stand
Shoulder to shoulder towering
Over spiny saguaros,
Deep canyons,
And me.

—I am being called
—I am being pulled
—I am running
Home.

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 17, 2013)

NaPoWriMo 2013 Day 17 Prompt: Write a poem of greeting.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

An Open Letter to Cowards and Bullies


To all the bullies and cowards in the world
You can stamp your feet,
You can yell and threaten
You can move quietly and leave
Carnage in your wake,
Perhaps you can evoke fear and terror, but
You will NEVER gain Respect,
And in the future, if your name is spoken
It will be spoken with contempt!
How do you know if you are a bully?

Answer me this:
Do you need to hurt others to get attention?

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 16, 2013)


Monday, April 15, 2013

A Gray Day




This is a blue day filled with promise
As the runners take to the streets,
The shining streets of Boston
—pounding feet
—hearts of courage
—dreams of glory fill the air,

Breathe, run, breathe, run, sweat, run some more.

This is a black day, a gray day
—where all hopes are dashed
—where red blood flows on gray streets
—where bird song and heart song are silenced

And in the silence...

a gray heron croaks.

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 15, 2013)


Saturday, April 13, 2013

These Suburban Streets



Morning sunshine illuminates
The bright green feathers of new leaves
On the mesquite trees that line the street,
White-winged doves fly and call
In the pale blue vault above,
In the distance the traffic hums a morning tune,
—the song of a new day,
Along the pavement the springtime flowers nod and sway,
The morning breeze teases me and ruffles my unruly hair,
I pass my neighbor in the street,
We are not going anywhere,
It’s just a morning stroll along these suburban streets,
It is a way to greet the day,

Until the smell of fresh-brewed coffee calls me home.
I take my cup into my walled garden and sit
With the roses and the birds.

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 13, 2013)

NaPoWriMo 2013 Day 13 Prompt: Take a stroll and write a poem about it.

Friday, April 12, 2013

A Spring Morning in Tucson

















Today
the still, gray air
nestles in around me
comforting me with its gentleness
in the backyard birds feed peacefully beneath
blooming roses.

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 12, 2013)

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Arizona Kitchen


Here is the blue tissue box by the sink
and the green bird house pen and pencil holder,
the black granite counter tops (all anyone wants these days,
along with stainless steel appliances)


Here is the place where

                Endless dishes are washed,
                Coffee is brewed fresh every morning,
                Conversations begun and ended,
                Songs sung alone by myself.

Here is the place where
               
Easter eggs are colored,
Pizza is baked,
The Thanksgiving turkey is stuffed and roasted,
Caramel popcorn is made at Christmas,
Or, Margaritas on a summer evening,
The cats meow as I fill their dishes in the morning,
And in the evening the little black and white dog waits by the door
When she hears her master’s car in the driveway, but

This could be any kitchen, anywhere.

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 1, 2013)

NaPoWriMo 2013

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

I'll Bid you Not a Fond Farewell


I’ll bid you not a fond farewell,
Instead I say hello
To the freedom I now have
As I watch you go
For ten long months you tormented me
You filled my life with fear
But now you’re gone and I am free
And I’m the one still here!
So take your small mind with you,
And your insecurities as well,
Go live your life somewhere else
Imprisoned in your self-made hell!

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 10, 2013)



Monday, April 8, 2013

A Friend Indeed

Detail of a painting by Heather Heath





















A friend in need is a friend indeed
At least that’s what they say,
But a friend to me is like a weed
That blooms most every day
They hang around, they pay me heed,
In what I do or say,
That’s how I like a friend to be
A friend that I let close to me.

I like a friend that will be true
I like a friend who makes me tea
A friend to trust and to pull through,
A friend who listens to my pleas,
And when I’m feeling sad or blue
I like a friend who laughs with me.
That’s how I like a friend to be,
A friend who I let close to me.

True friends know acceptance is the game
Yet they will tell you when you’re wrong
They never will forget your name
And when you sing they sing along
It doesn’t matter if there’s pain
They sing the notes in any song.
That’s how I like a friend to be,
A friend that I let close to me.

But friendship is a street for two,
I’ll not forget this thing,
I will be a good friend too
And we don’t have to sing,
We just have to muddle through,
And let our hearts take wing,
'Cause friendship doesn’t happen every other day
It really is quite precious, that’s all I have to say!

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 8, 2013)


Sunday, April 7, 2013

A Contrast in Habitats

















Part 1: New England

I love autumn’s blaze of color thrown across the hills,
I love the sound of trickling water tumbling down the rills,
I love tall pines in winter standing stark against the snow,
I like the little villages dressed up for Christmas show,
I love crocuses in springtime with peep frogs heard throughout the land
And in the summer I like to watch waves pounding on the sand.
I love maple sugaring in spring and apple picking in the fall,
I love New England’s old red barns and lumpy gray stone walls.
I love New England churches standing tall and white on the town green,
I love a quiet woodland walk where no one else has been,
With so many things to like, including pastures full of cows,
Why is that I find myself living in the desert now?





















Part 2: The Desert

I love the feathery green foliage of our native desert trees
And city ponds filled with ducks and occasionally some grebes,
I like the craggy mountains that encircle me in town,
I like the Monsoon rains when they come pouring down,
I love pale green saguaros standing tall against the sky,
I love the murmur of Gambel’s quail as they are passing by,
I love the lizards in my yard climbing everywhere,
I love the sight of nighthawks as they slice through evening air,
I love looking up and seeing stars shining in the night,
Twinkling in the darkness and sending down their light,
I love a place where all year round I watch the flowers bloom,
A place where I can live outside in an outdoor room,
I love hummingbirds in winter, and not having to shovel snow,
If I love this desert life so much, why would I ever go?

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 8, 2013)


Saturday, April 6, 2013

A Valediction for Trudy

Trudy 2008





















Even now I see your face
Faded blue eyes shining with Joy
As you show me the oriole on your feeder.

Long ago you nurtured
-this bird love in my heart,
--this God love in my heart,
--this love for all of nature.

I remember the last time I saw you,
Shrunken and gnome-like
With the pink, leathery skin of old age,
Yet eyes that still shone like a child’s.

Oh how I loved you, and love you still.
I think of you now like a constant thing,
Like birds, and God’s Love.

I knew the last time I saw you
It would be our last good-bye,
You were 102 then—time had run out on you.
I hugged you tight while tears
streamed down my face in a flood.

I could tell I was but a faded memory
In your aged mind,
But, you still loved me,
 you still loved God,
and you still loved the birds.

I wanted to hold you so tight
as if my love could keep you
from the inevitable.

How is it that you are gone from this life,
Yet still so alive in my heart?

In the birds I see everyday
—I  see you,
—I see Love.

If parting is such sweet sorrow,
Then remembering is sweeter still,
And saying Good-bye is but a brief moment in time.

~For Trudy Smith (read more here)

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 6, 2013)



Friday, April 5, 2013

A Walk Along the Hudson

Photo by Kathie Brown 2012



















Water
Melts the bright lights
On the Hudson River
Where waves lap the shoreline
At night

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 5, 2013)

Thursday, April 4, 2013

The Silence





















And now The Silence enfolds me
I nestle
Into its quiet arms,
I rest my head on its bosom,
I hear the beating of its peaceful heart.
I am reborn in this silence.
I am renewed by this solitude.

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 1, 2013)

NaPoWriMo 2013 Day 4 (I did my own thing) 30 Poems in 30 Days!

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

A Shanty for a Prairie Sea


There is a different kind of sea
Where prairie grasses wave to me
And ripple over verdant plains
A place where I’m a child again.

(Chorus)
Let the wind blow, let the grass roll,
Let the birds sing over my grassy sea,
Vast sky above, I am in love
With this green and gold prairie grass sea!

Here in my sea of grass
The prairie flowers bloom at last
Refreshed by spring and summer rains
The prairie is renewed again.

Let the wind blow, let the grass roll,
Let the birds sing over my grassy sea,
Vast sky above, I am in love
With this green and gold prairie grass sea!

How the wind howls as skies grow dark,
Silencing the meadowlark
Clouds boil up in the sky over me
And pour down rain on my grassy sea.

Let the wind blow, let the grass roll,
Let the birds sing over my grassy sea,
Vast sky above, I am in love
With this green and gold prairie grass sea!

And when the prairie storm is done
The dark clouds part and there’s the sun
And arching over this grassy sea
A rainbow frames the world for me.

Let the wind blow, let the grass roll,
Let the birds sing over my grassy sea,
Vast sky above, I am in love
With this green and gold prairie grass sea!

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 3, 2013)


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

I Cannot Tell a Lie

Sandy Point Sunset, Plum Island, MA

















I could tell you that an elephant walked
right through my Arizona yard today
stomping my cactus into a mess,
leaving my garden all a wreck!
I could tell you that I took a ride on a feathery cloud
over the mountains through an azure sky,
when I was bored at lunch time.
I could tell you I turn into a silver mare at night
with wings on my feet and a silken mane,
and that I follow a moonbeam path into the starry sky
Galloping all the way!
I could tell you I was lost at sea
tossed and tumbled in cold blue waves,
and just as I was about to drown
a humpback whale brought me home,
and sang to me along the way!
I could tell you I once met Madame Curie
And she let me help her in her laboratory,
And that I was really the one who discovered
The magic and mystery of radium.
I could tell you I crossed the wide prairie
with grasses long and flaxen in autumn
with long skirts flowing in a prairie wind,
and buffalo thundering by!
I could tell all of these things and more,

But…

as He of the Cherry Tree said,
I cannot tell a lie, so I’ll tell a story instead!

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 2, 2013)

Monday, April 1, 2013

Slowly, Silently Now the Moon


Slowly, silently, now the moon
Is following me in the sky
I wonder how much the old man sees
When I am walking by?
And does he see the owls at night
Fly through the darkening sky?
And does he see the hummingbirds’ nests
In the sycamores and the pines?
Slowly, silently now the moon
Is watching migration swing
Into the fullest feathered night
As all the birds take wing,
Back to summer breeding grounds,
Back to cooler climes,
Where mating and nesting are soon begun
In the sycamores and the pines!

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 2, 2013)