How quickly and how slowly pass the years:the surf, rolling, roars in, the surge sucks sandreceding, washed with tidal waves and tears. The children wait for summer; winter’s thaw that seemed to take forever, melts the land.How slowly, yet how quickly pass the years. Two bodies grown together, loving, dearwalk out into the sunset, hand... Continue Reading →
Starling Companion
Starling companions crowd the picnic table,pied wagtail hops along his waggle-dance,seagulls strut, searching for scraps of chips beside the bench:it’s spring, when all the earth wakes from a trance. Two magpies’ courtship heralds balmy summerunfolding with the turning of the yearwhile April winds blow blossoms: gently falling, petalled rainfallwhispering, still, for all the world to... Continue Reading →
We Crown The Wrong Things King
Money, power, wealth and status: we crown the wrong things King.Simple laughter, human kindness past considering. Gas-guzzling cars, communitiesgated, to shut out love:we crown the wrong things king, we say,‘Ordained by God above.’ The things we do best, with our hearts;our art, our joy, our songdevalued, shunned, not set apart:we crown the wrong things King. So, on... Continue Reading →
A few pennies…
A few pennies to rub together berries, for the coming winterbottled, labelledplaced upon a shelf Like preserved cherries,pears or quincescompassed, weighed:a measured year of dearth* As at a birth or Coronationprofit margins, revelation:alas, we lackthe will to save ourselves. In pedalling the petalled roadI shoulder my weight of the loadput my foot down:release it to the... Continue Reading →
A Garden, full of Birdsong
A garden, full of birdsong, bathes my mind,levelling out the aches, and furrowed creases;the iron grasp of winter lies behind, as daffodils light up the children’s faces. The meadowlark and sparrow greet the daywhile swallows on the wing, returning, flourish:The song thrush and the gentle-footed jaymake busy at their nests, their young to nourish. Lapwings, in... Continue Reading →
All these signs of spring
Trees burst into blossom and birds dance on the wingas happiness forgotten comeswith all these signs of spring. I ride out under billowed skieswelcome the sun, risingwhile April rains wash winter painsaway, at signs of spring. Forget-me-nots and daisies brighten all the hedgerow’s length:with all these signs of spring returnrenewed, my hope and strength. © 2023 experimentsinfiction.com.... Continue Reading →
Where Only Love Exists
There is a place where only love existsbeneath the magic of your fingertips till all I feel is unencumbered joy,a wide-eyed pilgrim, Iseek succour herewhere only love exists. In the mossy clefts of a steep-sided valley through undergrowth, to overarching skywhere larks ascendand ravens wendtheir ragged-wingéd wayhere in this place where only love exists. On the high path... Continue Reading →
Cadralor for rebirth
I. Prickles under the skin:stirring back to liferebirth, awakening Alleluia (alleluia)Amen (amen). II. The path, precipitousis a switchback staircaseits yawning emptiness instils more awethan the high crag. III. 'I lost a lot of blood on the table'she said, 'I was tabled,'I said, 'I was scheduled'I said 'no':I bleed, I dance. IV. Feathers, flowers and silk screensall those... Continue Reading →
Barbara Harris Leonhard reads from ‘Three-Penny Memories’
Anyone who has read Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir by Barbara Harris Leonhard will be moved and entertained by this hour-long program of readings and discussion around her book. The reading was given online for the Normal Public Library in Illinois. In it, she reads several poems, and talks about the inspiration behind the memoir... Continue Reading →
Sigh, sough, bend low…
Sigh, sough, bend low,sing a song of sorrow:I hold your branchand feel the wrenchof what may come tomorrow. Reach high, shield eyejoin hands above me:your branches barein bud this yearand ever after? Maybe. I yearn, will learnto spring forth like brackenunderfoot,like peat, like sootI pray to green, not blacken. © 2023 experimentsinfiction.com. All Rights Reserved. Written... Continue Reading →