Canada Goose

You are a wild thing

and from your feathered breast

I feel my own heart beating,

and when you fly and cry

Your haunting wild song

I hear the yearning of my own soul

to know the wild places that you know,

to see the places you have seen,

to feel that wind beneath my wings,

…if only I had your wings, your eyes,

…if only I could sing your wild cries,

…if only I had the freedom to fly.

~Kathie Adams Brown (February 1, 2016)

I Just Want to be Outside

I have been so busy

The words bottled up inside

Like a dam

Built across my brain,

Holding back the tide

Bogged down by responsibilities,

I am lost inside

I must be outside to find release,

I must be outside to find my peace,

I need to go outside,

to find my inner calm,

I just want to be outside!

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 25, 2015)

NaPoWriMo 2015 / 30 Poems in 30 Days

Maine is Not

Maine is not Arizona.

It does not have saguaros and ocotillos and cacti

You cannot wear flip flops all year round.

You cannot grow oranges in Maine.

There are no nectar feeding bats in Maine,

and the fragrance of creosote bush does not perfume the air after the rain.

There is no song of the desert toad singing its wild mating cry during the monsoon.

In Maine there are not ten kinds of hummingbirds flying around.

In fact, in Maine, only one species is found!

Maine is not sunny, day after day after day.

Maine is not flat and dusty and dry,

Maine is not landlocked.

Maine is not predictable,

Maine is not tame.

Maine is not crowded or bustling or boring.

You cannot escape nature in Maine.

You cannot drive very far in a straight line,

and in Maine, “You can’t get there from here.”

In summer you cannot stay outside too long because of humidity, mosquitoes, black flies, and ticks.

In winter you cannot stay outside because of snow and ice and below zero temperatures

with high, gusty winds to drive the point home.

Maine does not have rattlesnakes, scorpions, or tarantulas.

Maine does not have Spanish style houses.

There is no place else like Maine.

Maine is not Arizona.

~Kathie Adams Brown (April 1, 2015)

Messalonskee Lake in Maine 6-23-14

NaPoWriMo 2015 / 30 Poems in 30 Days

Day One Prompt: A Poem of Negation