The River and the Bridge

Down by the ancient river

Its silver boards shine with the age of time

clear water trips over river stones

chattering merrily as it goes

beneath the covered bridge.

Is this new water or old

flowing over these stones?

Does it remember Time

and all that has happened here,

before there was a bridge,

before there was a road,

before there was a forest?

Does this water remember the glacier it came from,

or when this bridge was built?

How many horses and buggies passed over

before cars came this way

sputtering exhaust into blue sky

proclaiming a new way and a new day?

Are the bridge and river friends

or enemies in an endless battle?

Does the river want to be free?

Does the bridge want to hang on just a little longer?

This bridge is a tie to the past

and a road to the future.

This river is the measure of Time

And the depository of memories,

Life Blood to the world.

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 29, 2015)

NaPoWriMo 2015 /30 Poems in 30 Days

Prompt 28: Bridges

Questions by the Restless Sea

Standing on the silver shore

by the shining sea

Seabirds fly

and seabirds dive,

Like thoughts inside of me

as ocean waves toss and roll

so my heart heaves inside:

Will I go or, will I stay

Here by this restless tide?

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 27, 2015)

NaPoWriMo 2015 / 30 Poems in 30 Days

I Don't Know Whether

I don’t know whether

It’s the weather

That moves me to wrote poetry,

Or moves me to climb a tree!

If I had some feathers

I would not mind the weather.

I could perch outside in a tree,

Or fly above the canopy!

And I would not wonder whether

It would be snow, or rain, or sunny weather,

I’d just take flight with all my feathers

In whatever weather!

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 10, 2015)

National Poetry Writing Month/ 30 Poems in 30 Days 2015

A Fragile Thing with Wings

So, where will we be when all the butterflies have gone?

When we have harvested, and sprayed and obliterated

Every meadow and unplowed field?

What if there is no fluttering in summer, no metamorphoses happening?

What if there is no renewal and transformation? Will all hope then die?

Will we, as a human race, forget serendipity and joy and the ephemeral pleasure

Of a fragile thing with wings?

~Kathie Adams Brown (September 19, 2014)

This poem is dedicated to my friend, Roy and his blogpost: A Butterfly Day

Questions on a Perfect Summer Day

Can I pause for just a moment

to enjoy this summer day?

With the breeze teasing the branches and

a chickadee brightly calling?

Can I stop and listen to the cicada’s sultry whine?

Can I smell the fragrant flowers on the sea salted air?

Will I pause long enough to watch gulls wheeling overhead?

Or stop my frantic rushing to watch a butterfly at rest?

Can my eyes follow the darting of a jewel like dragonfly?

Can my heart stop to fill with wonder on this perfect summer day?

Can my soul drink it all in and hold it as a promise

against the coming winter’s snow?

Can I taste such sweetness and live?

~Kathie Adams Brown ( September 4, 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

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

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)

NaPoWriMo 2013/30 Poems in 30 Days

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

How Can One Heart be Two

How can one heart be so torn in two,

--between two places,

--between two children,

--between two loves?

How can one heart survive

This rending,

This tearing,

This ripping of the tissue

So tender and filled with blood?

~Kathie Adams Brown (July 28, 2012)

My Name is Fire

My name is Fire,
but I have fur
and a feisty temperment.
In the northern forest
I make my home
I scamper about on branches and scold
flicking my tail
of rusty red,
who am I
and what have I said?

~Kathie Adams Brown (May 23, 2011)

Questioning Robert Frost On This Road

We all know the adage of “The Road Not Taken,”
The poems and stories written that use this metaphor,
But what of when the road is real
And you are peering down its stony path and wondering
If you should follow where the road leads
Or strike out on your own?
There are no prophets here
To predict what lies ahead,
The decision is my own
And I must take the steps
This is not a metaphor,
this is my life,
and it is all about to change
on this road.

~kathie adams brown (7-9-10)

OSI Prompt 123: Roads