Monument in the Park

As a child I crossed the road
to the Civil War Monument
in the park across the street
from my grandparents house
where my siblings and I
rolled giggling down the green slopes
that raised the stone soldier
to the sky

names chiseled into the sides
have become lichen-covered,
faded, and forgotten
the slopes seem more gentle now
and not nearly as high

are all monuments like this
created in moments of grief
to honor the dead
who fought for us
and now
generations later
while a new war rages
and our children play on green slopes
will we remember our soldiers
and build new monuments to them

I don't want a monument.
I just want them all to come home safely
and watch their children play
on green slopes.

~Kathie Adams Brown (September 28, 2010)

One Single Impression Prompt 135: Monument

September Pond

The silence of a September pond
rippling like molten lead,
cool as an autumn breeze,
embraced by trees,
velvety evergreens,
yellow-coined birches, alder, oak,
red-spangled maples,
reflected in still waters
where
a lone water lily
a white flame on a wet lily-pad floor
opens to the rain,
silver droplets falling to its center,
opening its heart,
opening my heart
to receive this autumn day,
this stormy silence.

~Kathiesbirds (September 28, 2010 Babcock Pond, Colchester, CT)

September Ocean

It has been so long since waves
have pounded their sweet song in my ears,
since sea gulls have gathered in the sky or on the sand,
since sea shells have collected beneath my feet.
White foam reaches for my soles
I giggle at the feel of salty wetness caressing my toes,
clouds of gray-steel-blue crumple overhead
with curtains of light streaming through.
The beach is vacant save for those few
who treasure this autumn ocean mood,
this solitude, this ocean song
that dances through my being once again.

~kathie adams brown 9-17-10

A Poem From my Hotel at Night

And the light on the trees at night is silver
when Orion sails through the sky,
while the tires of trucks hum on the highway
as the night is passing by,
and I in my hotel room am dreaming
of places I've yet to see,
in this little town next to the highway
with my love cuddled next to me.

~Kathie Adams Brown 9-16-10 @ 2:45 a.m. Methuen, MA