"Emergence" by Heather MacKenzie
"Reasons I Love Seasons"
by Heather MacKenzie
When your mood breaks from Winter cold to Summers’ warmth,
I love you more.
The sultry heat, the drone of far-off lawns mowed near dappled gaps of daisies
Dragonflies alighting on the lacy leaves of blue Nigella,
Bees laden with pollen tilting on their heavy takeoffs and landings,
Serenaded by sparrows joyful song of calling.
There is no sorrow in Summer, only joy!
Memories snap back, turning the pages in life’s photo album,
Screen doors slamming, sun on my back, grass at my toes,
Spitting watermelon seeds, plunging in sapphire waters,
Popsicles shared with family laughter and the taste lingers,
Everything screams, “Savor the moment, it is fleeting!”
When the leaves fall and bitter sweet, the sap stops flowing,
Then there will be time to ponder and look back,
But then, the green turns to scarlet and crimson and gold.
It is time to harvest and the crops reap bountiful,
Fall has its splendor and crisply wraps into Winters’ crush,
Settling a cold blanket of snow on Mother Earths’ body
And binds her in frozen wonder, shapely, naked and exposed,
Beautiful beyond words, a model posing for the waiting artist.
I think, then, I love you more.
Slowly, a miracle happens,
Expected, yet when it comes, magnificent!
Crocus pop their crowns of color upward,
The soil upends hidden treasures,
Unfurled gems sway on their stalks in vibrant strands.
Change creeps onward,
To melt and move, and mold the world, again, anew!
Rotations emerge, bursting in bloom.
And then I know. I love you more. I love you more, in Spring.
I love you, like the seasons. The circle is complete.
Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall. I love them ALL.
A carousel of seasons.
They bring each reason, each rhyme, each rhythm of poetry,
And reminder of why, I love you,
Because they remind me of you.
"Free"
by Heather MacKenzie
The lark sings with open heart.
The tune is free and glad.
The river runs, playing leap-frog over rocks,
Babbling comfort to the fern draped glade.
Fish weave through the gleaming light beams,
As currents carry swirling leaves above.
The wide sky unfurls cloud sails
To float and billow like pillow doves.
Trees gather to gossip and whisper in groups,
Lifting their skirts with hoops, to dip and curtsy,
Then stoop, at the parting to the wooded door.
The meadow holds a carpet of flowers
Woven into a paisley patterned floor.
The grasses stir with ease,
On the fragrant, wafting, swooping breeze.
All this is free, and full of joy!
I am drunk with gladness to see
The earth opens wide her arms,
Laden with beauty and bounty and charm.
- A Poem by Heather MacKenzie
"The Winds"
by Heather MacKenzie
The winds, the winds, the winds, the winds!
What do they want?
They’ve taken everything already!
They’ve taken my leaves and stripped the branches bare.
They’ve bent the conifer’s backs like stooped old men,
Yet they rap mercilessly at my door and windows,
Shaken the very ground and my peace with it.
What do they want?
They howl and screech, they moan and stomp, they push and groan!
The winds, the winds, the winds, the winds!
They pry every crevice, pierce, penetrate, prowl, pilfer, up-end, tumble, rattle and rumble.
The winds, the winds, the winds, the winds!
What do they want?
Rearranging, sculpting, framing, claiming!
Like an army of tanks, leaving a swath of destruction in their wake,
Crushing, mercilessly onward, taking, taking, taking, taking!
When will it end?
The constant shaking?
This Force of Forces?
This “Thing” that demands fear, supplication,
Which never grants pardon,
Rules with brutal ferocity,
And leaves with no apology.