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Summer’s almost over. Here are four poems I wrote that appeared in the September 11th issue of The Weekly Avocet, which you can download here. You can click on the title of each poem to hear me read it. Enjoy!
Meadowlark
Its song rings out over the lake
on a sunny, cloudless Wyoming afternoon,
as our boat glides through smooth waters.
Dad and younger brother fish
while Mother and I enjoy the gentle breeze
that carries with it the scent of pine trees,
whiff of worms used for bait.
At the age of thirteen,
knowing little about the meadowlark,
I delight in the bird’s cheerful tune,
and the boat’s gentle motion,
observe, with my limited vision, the lake, grass, trees, sky,
happy in summer.
After a Summer Cold Front
The sun finally shines in a blue sky filled with white clouds.
A gentle breeze blows, as I sit in my back yard.
Birds flit about in branches above me.
With my limited vision, I can’t see them,
but I hear their wings and joyous songs.
A fly circles my head—I wave it away.
In distant places, forest fires rage.
But here, they’re momentarily forgotten.
Summers in My Younger Years (A Zip Ode)
I loved summers in my home town,
ice cream,
band concerts, swimming at the park,
picnicking and hiking in the mountains.
Joy!
Nature Hike
As I walk down the Braille Trail,
I must hold onto the rail
when it’s steep or else I’ll fail.
As I walk, the moisture stops
dripping from all the treetops.
Since there is no more spray,
I no longer need to pray
for that glorious sunshine ray.
I know I have nothing to fear,
but I listen with one ear
for the lumbering sound of a bear
or a moose with more than one ear.
Onward I boldly tread
till I come to a sign I can read.
It’s in Braille and print, and I feel
the dots that are unlike an eel.
I look for a place to stop
when I climb to the very top
of a hill where the view will arrest,
and there, I sit down and rest.
***
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***
New! Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me
Copyright 2021 by Abbie Johnson Taylor.
Independently published with the help of DLD Books.
Sixteen-year-old Natalie’s grandmother, suffering from dementia and confined to a wheelchair, lives in a nursing home and rarely recognizes Natalie. But one Halloween night, she tells her a shocking secret that only she and Natalie’s mother know. Natalie is the product of a one-night stand between her mother, who is a college English teacher, and another professor.
After some research, Natalie learns that people with dementia often have vivid memories of past events. Still not wanting to believe what her grandmother has told her, she finds her biological father online. The resemblance between them is undeniable. Not knowing what else to do, she shows his photo and website to her parents.
Natalie realizes she has some growing up to do. Scared and confused, she reaches out to her biological father, and they start corresponding.
Her younger sister, Sarah, senses their parents’ marital difficulties. At Thanksgiving, when she has an opportunity to see Santa Claus, she asks him to bring them together again. Can the jolly old elf grant her request?
***
My Corner 
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