In the Green Fields of Maine

Norridgewock, ME 2012

In the green fields of Maine

I lie on the cool green breast of the earth

Warmed by an Indian Summer sun

While all of my sadness drains away

Drawn out by this good earth,

This dirt and grass, and deep blue sky

I lie here still as a newborn fawn,

I feel this sense of being

Close to the earth I love

Close to the land I love

Close to the beating heart of nature

I lie here weak and worried

Then I rest

And let my heart grow strong

Lying on this cool green breast

Warmed by the October sun

Grateful that I am home.

~Kathie Adams Brown (February 7, 2013)

End O'Day in the Catalina Foothills

I listened to the thrasher’s call

I heard coyotes sing

As the sun went down and the cactus glowed

And Gambel’s Quail took wing,

In the Catalina Foothills

When daylight fades to night

The birds and I—we are Wild Things

Dancing in golden light.

~kathie adams brown (October 2, 2013)

September Moon

Moonrise over the Rincon Mountains

The harvest moon
rising full behind the Rincon Mountains,
a glowing orb in a cobalt sky,
with poorwills calling from the rocky canyons
and a dry desert wind running free
like a ghost horse
between cactus and sagebrush
telling me an age-old story,
whispers from the past
illuminated by the light
of a September moon.

~kathie adams brown (September 20, 2013)

Imaginary Garden with Real Toads

Handprints on the Wall

I’ve cleaned these walls before

In a different house

Twenty years ago

when you were young

cheesy handprints on the wall

sticky imprints of your life

Your own DNA embodied

 in the small boy

Who races through my house now

with joyful abandon.

I get the spray bottle and the cloth

And as I wipe I smile

At this connecting thread.

~kathie adams brown (8-26-13)

The Quail is a Gray Shadow

The Quail is a Gray Shadow

The quail is a gray shadow

Nestled in the spindly arms of the green desert broom

Sanctuary

From sun, rain,

and predators.

Hold; hold still. 

~kathie adams brown (8-19-13)

Poem for a Boy Coming Home

I have waited for you with beating heart

Trembling with anticipation

Arms opened wide for an embrace

Waiting to see your eyes, your face.

How can you know the depths of my love?

I do not think most boys really understand.

Your boyish smile is the delight of my life,

Your desire to protect me is a quality I love,

Your striving for respect is beyond admirable,

And all that you are I love.

I am your mother, your grandmother, your sister, your wife.

I am all the women in your life.

You are my boy, my son, my grandson, my brother, and My Man.

~kathie adams brown (8-16-13)

August Wind

August wind blows dry

Dark clouds gather in heaps over the mountains

Restlessness is in this unsettled air

I stir from my summer stupor

I wonder

What will tomorrow bring?

But for tonight

As trees toss limbs around me

Waving leaves like black lace handkerchiefs against the smoky sky

I am caught up in this wind and carried on a dream

And I fly.

~kathie adams brown (August 14, 2013)