Down the Green Road

Down the green road I drive,

water on both sides,

seagulls wheeling overhead,

and then I see her glide,

black wings spread wide,

white head, white tail, yellow beak and feet,

talons stretched she lands

on prey in the green field,

 a picture of wildness as I drive,

on this green road,

this coastal road,

in the Maine countryside.

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 30, 2014)

Today is the last day of National Poetry Month, and I just could not let it end without writing at least one new poem. This is inspired by my drive home from the town today when I saw a Bald Eagle land a nearby field. Click on the link below to see what other poets have done.

NaPoWriMo 2014

Why I Can't be a Minimalist

I want to be a minimalist but…

…I like the feel of my tea cup in my hands
warm, and round and pretty.

Today I like this one but,
tomorrow I may want to use another one,
a different one
for my coffee or my tea or my hot chocolate

a different cup for
a different kind of tea
or a different holiday,
or a different friend,
or a different memory,

because I have so many
(friends and memories that is)
as well as tea cups
(more than 40 I’d say)

So how can I have less than 100 things
as proposed by some people nowadays?

For me that would mean throwing away all tangible connections
to people, places and pleasures

the Simple Pleasure that I get
from drinking tea or coffee
from whichever tea cup I am in the mood for

today.

~Kathie Adams Brown (October 27, 2010)

• NaPoWriMo 2014

Spring Song

The fields and forest call to me

I need to run and play

So many months and years have passed

Since I have been away.

The scent of new mown hay I need,

the color of ripening wheat,

the purple, green and blue of mountains

 rising strong and sweet,

the sight of newborn calves curled up,

in meadows in the spring,

the skylarks singing perched on fences—I know why they sing!

The trees that whisper in the breeze

beside a chattering brook,

an eagle soaring in the sky—I need to run and look!

Whether a full moon rising in a starry night,

or the fireball setting, shedding golden light,

God’s creation calls to me,

Oh! Let me run and see!

~Kathie Adams Brown (May 8, 1994)

• NaPoWriMo 2014

Colors in the Background

There are such colors in the background,

Hiding from our eyes,

while we focus on the thing we want

the colors pass us by

it is not until we stop and look

beyond what we can see

that other colors come to us

and set our spirits free.

~Kathie Adams Brown November 16, 2010

• NaPoWriMo 2014

Highschool Haiku

Transformed

The snow comes and makes

The gray winter beautiful

But how about me?

Ephemeral

Am I to be like

A vanishing mist or will

You remember me

~Kathie (September 26, 1974)

Though it's National Poetry Month I have not had much time to write new poems. So, I thought I would celebrate the rest of this month by posting some poems from my past. A kind friend informed me that yesterday was National Haiku Poetry Day and amazingly I found these while searching for something else in a box in my basement. I wrote them when I was a teen but they still seem relevant today. I hope you enjoy them and get inspired to write some of your own!

• National Haiku Poetry Day
• NaPoWriMo 2014

Timberdoodle Day

Twitter down, twitter down, tumble down flight,

Peenting, peenting in the gray light,

Spiral, spiral, catch a quick sight,

Rock-a-bird, rock-a-bird in the damp night.

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 10, 2014)

NaPoWriMo 2014

Green Spikes are Promises

The last cold grip of winter has weakened,

Daffodil spears poke through the damp, brown earth

Pointing to the sunny sky,

Green spikes are promises,

Soon there will be flowers,

Soon it will be Spring.

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 10, 2014)

NaPoWriMo 2014

The Wild Blue Sea

View from Land's End on Bailey Island, ME  3-16-14

I wait on the wild blue shore to see,

I wait to watch the wild blue sea,

What are the creatures, what of the birds?

When will the wind blow?

What will I hear?

What are the colors,

All shades of blue,

Some shades of gray,

Some green too.

Here in the bay by the wild blue sea,

here I am waiting for whatever will be,

Why am I drawn to this wild blue sea?

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 10, 2014)

NaPoWriMO 2014

Christina's World

Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth

Is the world all bleak and gray, Christina,

Is there not a spot of joy?

Does all elude your legs?

Yet in your fingertips do you not feel the damp earth

In a way unknown to most?

Can you not smell the years of decay that bring forth life?

I see you looking up the hill,

Is there longing in the twist of your body…

Or acceptance of your lot in life?

What do you know, dear Christina, that most of us do not?

What can I learn from you and your world, Christina?

Can your weak legs open my eyes?

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 1, 2014)

*an ekphrastic poem-a poem inspired by or about a work of art

NaPoWriMo 2014