A Spring Constitutional (Poetry)

In the early morning, a cold wind blows.

Weak sunlight from a hazy sky offers little warmth.

Despite the chill, I’m glad to be out walking.

I smell fresh new-mown grass, hear bird songs.

In the park, a workman mows the lawn.

No one else is in sight.

 

I walk by the creek, hear its gentle babble,

neigh of horses from a nearby veterinary clinic,

smell the manure.

My white cane rolls from side to side in front of me.

 

In the late afternoon, I traverse the same path,

relieved to be out in the fresh air.

Despite the odor of manure,

my stomach tells me I’m hungry.

I quicken my pace, eager to reach home.

***

This poem was published in the April 19th issue of The Weekly Avocet and also appears in How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver. Click below to hear me read it.

 

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Author Abbie Johnson Taylor

We Shall Overcome

How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver

That’s Life: New and Selected Poems

My Ideal Partner: How I Met, Married, and Cared for the Man I Loved Despite Debilitating Odds

Click to hear an audio trailer.

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On an April Afternoon (Poetry)

A bird, annoyed at being trapped,

chirps, flits about in my tree house.

Finally breaking away,

it flies across the yard,

song celebrating its freedom.

***

This poem was recently published in The Weekly Avocet and appears in my collection, That’s Life: New and Selected Poems. Click below to hear me read it.

 

***

Author Abbie Johnson Taylor

We Shall Overcome

How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver

That’s Life: New and Selected Poems

My Ideal Partner: How I Met, Married, and Cared for the Man I Loved Despite Debilitating Odds

Click to hear an audio trailer.

Like me on Facebook.

 

An Unhappy Ground Hog

I know it’s a little late, but something I heard earlier this month inspired me to write the following poem. Apparently, the group in Pennsylvania that organizes the Ground Hog Day activities creates the forecast, no matter what the ground hog does. Click this link to hear me read the poem. You can learn more about Ground Hog Day here.

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Punxsutawney Phil’s Lament

 

I saw my shadow today,

they said we’ll have an early spring,

not true.

Why do I even bother?

The speeches, entertainment, give me a headache.

They don’t like my forecast.

Next year, I won’t even show my face.

Then what will they say?

 

***

How would you feel if you were a ground hog who came out of his hole, and nobody paid attention to you?

***

Author Abbie Johnson Taylor

We Shall Overcome

How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver

That’s Life: New and Selected Poems

Order from Amazon

Flowers Bring Hope

Today is Earth Day. I was inspired to post the following poem by the NaPoWriMo prompt at http://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-two/ . I wrote this a year ago, and you can click on the Dropbox link below the poem to hear me read it.

 

FLOWERS BRING HOPE

 

 

 

Arrow leaf, balsam root

Blanket the hillside

near a pristine lake,

 

bring hope of spring

soon to come,

an end to brutal winter.

 

Warm temperatures

around the corner

melt snow, clear ice.

 

A new beginning

will shortly arrive,

end nature’s tyranny,

 

but even in June,

snow dots mountaintops,

as winter holds on.

 

Meanwhile, in the valleys,

Spring has arrived

with lupine, hope.

 

 

 

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/15213189/flowers%20bring%20hope.mp3

 

Abbie Johnson Taylor, Author

 

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Spring (An Acrostic Poem)

Season of new beginnings, your

presence in late March, early April

revives hope, nature’s promise.

In winter, we drooped in the cold snow-covered landscape.

Now, we smile, as the sun shines, causes

growth of flowers, trees, warms the earth at last.

 

To hear me read this poem, go to https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/15213189/spring.mp3

 

Abbie Johnson Taylor, Author

 

Order That’s Life from Finishing Line Press.

 

Order That’s Life from Amazon.

 

Vote for my new book idea.

 

 

Where Is Spring?

Last week was the first day of the season, but now we’re back to winter. When my husband was alive, he looked forward to spring because he enjoyed sitting outside. The more the sun shone, the better. Having grown up in southern Colorado and lived in California for years, he wasn’t used to Wyoming’s brutal winters.

The following poem from How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver illustrates this concept. This poetic form is called a haibun. It combines two or more paragraphs of prose with one haiku.

 

SPRING’S HOPELESSNESS

 

Spring comes wet with little sun. Hope is dashed by the wind that buffets the house, rattles wind chimes, rain that drums on the roof. Without enough warmth, grass, flowers, trees, shrubs won’t grow.

He loves the sun, can’t get enough. It’s one of his few pleasures since he can no longer walk or use his left arm or care for himself. After a brutal winter with endless snow, frigid temperatures, he longs to enjoy the sun’s healing warmth.

wishes for the sun

fall on the deaf ears of God

wait for warmth to come

 

Aren’t you sick of winter? Don’t you long for spring?

 

Abbie Johnson Taylor, Author of We Shall Overcome and How to Build a Better Mousetrap: Recollections and Reflections of a Family Caregiver