Village Poets Present Mira Mataric and Charles Harmon on 22 July 2018

Look for Village Poets and Pam Shea in the 4th of July Parade of Sunland-Tujunga, Foothill Blvd from Mt. Gleason to Sunland Park. Starts at 10 am on the 4th of July. 

Dr. Mira Mataric and Charles Harmon will be featured poets on Sunday, July 22, 2018 at 4:30 p.m. at the Village Poets Monthly Reading at Bolton Hall Museum (10110 Commerce Avenue, Tujunga, CA 91042). The readings include 30 min. for the featured poet, as well as two open mike segments. Refreshments are served and $3 donations collected for the cost of the venue, the second historical landmark in the City of Los Angeles, that celebrated its centennial in 2013. The Museum is managed by the Little Landers Historical Society, named after the "little land" that each settler received in the Tujunga and Sunland foothills when the area was settled. The readings adhere to a self-imposed PG-13 rating, without extreme depictions of sex or violence, and with an air of gentility,  so poets use their words to bless the world, rather than curse it.

MIRA N. MATARIC, Ph.D.

Mira N. Mataric, born in Belgrade, Serbia. Earned BA, MA, and Ph.D. in Linguistics and World Literature, and master’s studies in Special Education. Librarian in the National Library of Serbia for 14 years and teaching at the University of Beograd, Mira has been a prominent free-lance writer and translator-interpreter in Europe, publishing her poetry, prose, and translations in leading periodicals of Yugoslavia and Serbia since 1950. And translated American, English, Irish, Swedish, Indian, Rumanian, and other modern poetry and prose (John Steinbeck, Isaac Bashevis Singer etc.). She traveled extensively in Europe, USA, Australia, Asia and Africa.

Living in the USA since 1981, Mira taught college English, Creative Writing, Russian, and ESL, Special Education, and successfully applied her expertise in creative writing as art therapy. Mira worked extensively teaching senior citizens to write memoirs, journals, poetry and other literary forms, as a legacy.

Mira has edited a literary journal, organized literary workshops and readings, often delivering public speeches for schools, organizations, churches, and clubs, in Kansas for 18 years. She continues to discover and nurture new talents, building multi-cultural bridges and spreading education throughout her career. 

Mira has published 44 (bilingual) books of poetry, memoirs, short stories, novels and anthologies. She has thousands of citations in other publications and anthologies, translated into numerous languages and awarded for poetry, prose, translations and life achievements building international cultural bridges. Her awards include recognition from the President of the United States, the Government of Serbia, Ministry of Diaspora and Education, etc: Arsenie Charnoevich, 2005; Ivo Andric, 2013; Golden medal from the Cultural-Educational Association of Serbia, 2007; Sretenska Povelja for translations,  2008; Poeta from Arte, 2007; Shumadijske Metafore and Literary Workshop Kordun for her short stories, 2014; Special recognition, Indjija, Pro Poet, 2018.

Mira has promoted some two hundred Serbian authors abroad through her translations, reviews and lectures, and as many foreign writers in Serbia since 1950 to this day.

CHARLES HARMON

BIO SKETCH

Love to write, love to live, love to love, love to cook, love to eat. Teaching science is like cooking, cooking is like writing poetry, poetry is about life, love is about living, and living is about love. I love to write poetry. Long live love!

BIO

Published story in local newspaper in fourth grade. Produced hundreds of poems (first love), songs, stories, articles, photographs, artwork, screenplays, novel. Assembling collected poems, trying to get two books published. Won NSTA national science teaching award and $20,000 in 2001 for project, “Don’t Be a Crash Test Dummy!” that teaches kids traffic safety, physics, chemistry, math. Use poetry, songs to motivate students, challenging them to write their own, codifying learning. Reviewed, edited, contributed to five textbooks for Houghton Mifflin. World traveler, five years overseas, 60 countries, lifesaver. Taught English, composition as well as sciences. Won SGVPQ poetry slam in Hollywood in 2006. Published in Spectrum, Altadena Poetry Review, Ribbons, Haiku Windows, Haiku Society Anthology, Lummox, Prism Review, California Quarterly, Atlas Poetica. Charles was named one of the "Top Ten Poets of the San Gabriel Valley" by Spectrum Publications. 

  

THE JOY OF COOKING

I have tears in my eyes

But not from cutting onions

I’m laughing out loud

But not from jokes in my cookbook

Oil is sizzling and hot

But my pan remains empty

Not all the cooking wine 

Makes it into the pot

I want to cook for you

I want you in my kitchen

My spice box is exploding

Hot chili peppers set hearts on fire

Curry burns holes in souls

Lips blister from sampling salsa 

So sweet and sour

What strange alchemy transforms

Such simple ingredients into life?

Miracle food, magical energy source

Gives strength to go on, for 

Neither Woman nor Man

Can live by bread alone

We both need something more

Something hearty that endures

That sticks to Adam’s ribs and also Eve’s—

A great big serving 

Of passion and romance.

I’m dishing that up

With a chef’s flair for cuisine

Words of love to nourish 

Hungry hearts and thirsty souls

It’s hot and spicy and ready…

Are you hungry too?

Care to join me?

--Charles Harmon

__________________________________________________________

Previously published in Spectrum 4: “2016’s Top Ten San Gabriel Valley Poets, April;

Altadena Poetry Review 2017; Prism Review, Spring 2006; 

Winner, 2006 “Winner-Take-All” SGVPQ  Hollywood Poetry Contest

VILLAGE POETS NEWS

We had political representation at the Christine Jordan feature in June! State Senator Anthony Portantino is a poetry lover and attended our event along with a host of excellent poets!  Dorothy Skiles commented: "Christine Jordan performed her poetry and narrative readings with theatrical flair and humor which was well received by the audience! The poets who participated delivered humorous, compelling, and thought-provoking work, which is the hallmark of so many of our events."

Standing:  – left to right:  Cile Borman, Anthony Portantino, Mira Mataric, Joe DeCenzo, Peter Larsen, Beth Baird, Richard Dutton, Barbara Bagwell, Lalo Kikiriki. Sitting: - left to right:  Lida Abramian, Alice Pero, Pauli Dutton, Christine Jordan, Chris Cressey.

Village Poets wish all poets and poetry lovers

Happy Fourth of July! 

See you at the Parade down Foothill Blvd 

from Mt. Gleason at 10 am

Dorothy Skiles & Marlene Hitt, Saturday, 22 July 2017, Montrose - and Parade Photos with Pam

Due to an exhibition being held at Bolton Hall Museum, Village Poets' July meeting has been moved to nearby Montrose where the Library will present Dorothy Skiles and Marlene Hitt, in a double feature of Village Poets. The flyer for the event was produced by the Montrose Library, located at 2465 Honolulu Avenue, Montrose where the Village Poets reading will start at 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 22, 2017.  Two segments of open mike will also be available for those who wish to read their poems. See you all there!

Over the last eighteen years, Dorothy has been involved in the local poetry scene and her poems have appeared in a variety of community publications. She served as Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga from 2012 to 2014 and since 2010, has been a member of the Village Poets of Sunland-TujungaPlanning Group who sponsor a well-established Monthly Poetry Series in the foothills.

Her chapbooks include:The Sidewalk Gallery (1979), Ear to Earth (1996), Spine Flower Blues (1999) - a collaborative work by the Chuparosa Writers, and Riddle in the Rain (2003) –a collaborative work with Marlene Hitt.

Dorothy Skiles and Joe DeCenzo at the Parade 2014

Dorothy’s poems appear in Meditation on Divine Names, edited by Maja Trochimczyk, Moonrise Press 2012, and From Benicia With Love, Edited by Don Peery, Accent Digital Publishing, Redding CA 2013. In July 2015, she was featured in Colorado Boulevard.net in Pasadena, Mapping the Artist - Dorothy Skiles by Kathabela Wilson.Her poems also appear in the Altadena Poetry Review - Anthology 2016, edited by Thelma T. Reyna, Golden Foothill Press,2016. Most recently, her poems were published in the Altadena Poetry Review -  Anthology 2017, edited by Elline Lipkin and Pauli Dutton, Altadena Library District, 2017.

Marlene and Lloyd Hitt, Grand Marshalls of the Independence Day Parade, 2017.

Marlene Hitt is a Los Angeles poet, writer and retired educator with local history as an avocation. She has served for many years as Archivist, Museum Director and Historian at the Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga. She is a native Californian and a graduate of Occidental College. She also studied at CSUN, USC, UCLA, Glendale College and Trinity College in Ireland. As a member of the Chupa Rosa Writers of Sunland for nearly 30 years, she has worked with this small group of poets from whom has sprung readings at the local library, the Poet Laureate Program of Sunland-Tujunga, and the currently popular Village Poets. Her poetry received several first place prizes in annual competitions of the Women’s Club, San Fernando Valley, and many awards from the John Steven McGroarty Chapter of the California Chaparral Poets. Congressman Adam Schiff declared Marlene Hitt to be the Woman of the Year 2016 and her name was entered into the Congressional Record.

Her work appeared in Psychopoetica (UK), Chupa Rosa Diaries of the Chupa Rosa Writers, Sunland (2001-2003), Glendale College’s Eclipse anthologies, two Moonrise Press anthologies, Chopin With Cherries (2010) and Meditations on Divine Names (2012),Sometimes in the Open, a collection of verse by California Poets Laureate, and The Coiled Serpent, anthology of Los Angeles poets, edited by Poet Laureate, Luis Rodriguez (2016). She published chapbooks Sad with Cinnamon, Mint Leaves, and Bent Grass (all in 2001), as well as Riddle in the Rain with Dorothy Skiles, a stack of poetry booklets for friends and family, and most recently a critically acclaimed poetry volume, Clocks and Water Drops (Moonrise Press, 2015). 

More information: 

• Clocks and Water Drops: http://www.moonrisepress.com/clocks-and-water-drops-by-marlene-hitt.html
• Blog about Clocks and Water Drops: http://moonrisepress.blogspot.com/2015/01/
• Interview on Colorado Blvd. Blog: https://coloradoboulevard.net/mapping-the-artist-marlene-hitt/ 

ARRIVAL

Please, come home.

Walk into the door of the kitchen

where stew and wheaten bread

steam, where a fire warms.

Your father will tune the strings,

unwrap the bohdran.

I will uncover the harp.

The stew will simmer.

With hands wiped on my apron

I will open my arms

to you, my firstborn child

so long traveling. Your sisters 

will dance. The old ones will smile

through brown, gapped teeth,

will smile blue into your eyes.

Wrapped around you, the old songs,

the scent of turf fire, the smell

of our own wool and you will sing.

While you sleep

I will wrap around you a woven shawl

to shield you. Please come home

to bleating lambs,

to the resting place of love.

Marlene Hitt, published in Clocks and Water Drops (2015)  

ISBN 978-0-9819693-5-0

LOVE MENDED

That old threadbare word – love

flows in a fabric patterned

with shades of crimson colors,

whispers of mauve and the yellow of dry sun.

Chopin wove love into the air,

Monet stroked it onto canvas.

That word so often patched

nearly falls apart, its meaning frayed –

until a newborn cries 

or a daughter becomes a bride,

until the lace of fifty years together

fully knits. Love unravels

until a friend perceives and cherishes,

until there is an ear ready to listen, 

a shoulder to cry on. Love is repaired

with the consecration of all the threads.

Then, there is delight in love’s stitching,

the worn word renewed

into the One Love.

Mended.

Marlene Hitt, published in Clocks and Water Drops, 2015

VILLAGE POETS AT THE PARADE 2017

Marlene  and Lloyd Hitt were Grand Marshalls. Photo by Bill Skiles.

Pam Shea, Poet Laureate was the Star!

The Poets had a banner, carried by Spiderman and Auntie Sam.

The team is getting ready, minus the photographer and driver.

The hood was covered in stars, stripes and flowers.

Everyone wore their stars and stripes...

The Poet Laureate dressed up as Betsy Ross.

Joe DeCenzo was the driver and had lots of fun! 

The car of poets drove on...

Having fun in the sun! With stars all over (Maja)

Independence Day Parade and July 22 with Marlene Hitt and Dorothy Skiles in Montrose

The Parade in 2011, Photo by Susan Rogers

The Village Poets Convertible will carry Pam Shea, Poet Laureate of Sunland Tujunga for 2017-2018 this year, in the Sunland-Tujunga Fourth of July Parade on Tuesday, July 4, 2017, starting at 10 a.m. The Annual Independence Day Parade takes place on Foothill Blvd, down from Mt. Gleason St. to the Sunland Park. Many representatives of government and community organizations participate, including the Little Landers Historical Society, the Verdugo Hills High School and other local schools, firemen, police, bikers' clubs, and more. Village Poets have had a regular presence since 2010 and below you can see some photos. In celebration, let us read some poems, suitable for the occasion.

Photo by Pam Shea

OLD GLORY

by Pamela Shea

Today I performed a most humbling act
I repaired my home flag, dear Old Glory
I stitched frayed seams with reverential care
While it whispered to me its story

It took me to places where it had been
To battlefields, parades, and many graves
It took me to places of the deepest sorrow
Also to sunny, celebratory days

I envisioned faces of many heroes
Of all colors, races, ages, and creeds
We journeyed to mountaintops and valleys
Commemorating countless courageous deeds

Frayed seams reminded me of frayed families
I thought of all soldiers, alive, dead, or maimed
Thoughts of generations flooded my mind
So many lives for freedom forever changed

I finished my sewing with thankfulness
Completing this sacred task with a prayer
My heart was warmed by appreciation
As I proudly posted the colors with care

(c) 2015 by Pam Shea

Dorothy Skiles with Joe Decenzo at the Parade

CELEBRATION

by Dorothy Skiles


The Fourth of July’s
Night skies are alight with stars
In celebration

Of our nation’s birth.!
Red, white, blues of many hues
Dance before our eyes.

Children frolic about,
Lovers snuggle on the lawn
All want to stay ‘till dawn!

(c) 2012 by Dorothy Skiles

Joe DeCenzo drives the parade car, 2014

Maja Trochimczyk with daughter Ania, at the Parade, 2010

Joe DeCenzo drumming at the Parade, 2015

Dorothy Skiles, Maja Trochimczyk, Marlene Hitt at the Parade, 2013

Village Poets at the Parade, 2014

Village Poets at the Parade, 2015

VILLAGE POETS ON SATURDAY, JULY 22, 2017 AT THE MONTROSE LIBRARY

Due to an exhibition being held at Bolton Hall Museum, Village Poets' July meeting has been moved to nearby Montrose where the Library will present Dorothy Skiles and Marlene Hitt, in a double feature of Village Poets. Below is the flyer for the event produced by the Montrose Library, located at 2465 Honolulu Avenue, Montrose. The reading will start at 3 p.m. See you there!

Animal Poetry on July 19 and Elsa Frausto on July 27, 2014

 PAWS FOR READING AT THE LA CRESCENTA PUBLIC LIBRARY ON JULY 19, 2014

Floor tile in the Sainte Chapelle in Paris, 1248.

The La Crescenta Library/County of Los Angeles, 2809 Foothill Blvd., La Crescenta, CA  91214, is hosting a special poetry event entitled, Paws for Reading, on Saturday, July 19, 2014, from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.

The  former Poet Laureate’s, Marlene Hitt, Joe DeCenzo, Maja Trochimczyk, and Dorothy Skiles will be presenting poems about the animal world.  In addition, a number of guests poets will be reading their work on animals and related matters.  The poets will present their work in the following order:

• Becky Mate 
• Peter Larsen 
• Marlene Hitt* 
• Mira Mataric 
• Mina Kirby 
• Joe DeCenzo* 
• Jessica Wilson 
• Maja Trochimczyk* 
• Sam Graham 
• Bev Collins 
• Jill Meunier 
• Dorothy Skiles* 
• * indicates members of the Village Poet Planning Group  

Also, it is anticipated that photos and other art work, in keeping with the theme of animals, will be decorating the walls. Come join us for this delightful event.  Refreshments will be served.

PRESENTING ELSA FRAUSTO, POET LAUREATE OF SUNLAND-TUJUNGA, JULY 27, 2014

Elsa Frausto, the Eighth Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga.

Sunland-Tujunga’s new Poet Laureate, Elsa S. Frausto, will be featuring at the Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga’s upcoming Monthly Reading Series on Sunday, July 27, 2014, from 4:30 - 6:30 p.m., at Bolton Hall Museum, 10110 Commerce Ave., Tujunga, CA 91042.

Elsa S. Frausto was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She has lived in the Foothills with her family for over twenty years. Her work has appeared in a number of local and international publications, among them Porte des Poetes, Speechless the Magazine, Poem of the Month in Poet at Work, Badlands, the anthology Meditations on Divine Names and many anthologies by Poets on Site.

She was the coordinator and host for Camelback Readings held at the Sunland-Tujunga Library. Elsa is a member of the Chuparosa Writers, volunteers at the Friends of the Library Bookstore and at the Noise Within Theater (Pasadena) and is poetry editor and translator for the Spanish language literary magazine la-luciernaga.com.  Her new venture as Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga (2014-2016) is the blog Poetria.org where poetry and travel with stops along the way from philosophy to food are welcome. Her local musings Walking Around can be read monthly in Voice of the Village.


Faith and the Nectarine

In matters of faith,
I'm with the nectarine.
It prepares its sap
where it can't be seen,

spells winter,
suspects spring,
and knows it's still
not time.

Heat is a dance
on summer's skin.
The long hours beat,
sugar jingles,

autumn can't wait.


Elsa S. Frausto

Poets are welcome to sign-up for the open reading.  Come and enjoy an early evening of poetry, light refreshments and eclectic conversation. A $3.00 donation is appreciated.

THE POET LAUREATE AND VILLAGE POETS IN THE FOURTH OF JULY PARADE

Look for the decorated car of Village Poets in the Fourth of July Parade in Sunland-Tujunga, starting from Mt. Gleason Avenue down Foothill Blvd. to Sunland Park.  We will be presenting Elsa S. Frausto, the new Poet Laureate, accompanied by former poets laureate Joe DeCenzo, Marlene Hitt, Dorothy Skiles and Maja Trochimczyk.

See the album of photos from the Fourth of July 2014 on Picasa Web Albums. Photos by Maja Trochimczyk, Bill Skiles, and others. 

Elsa Frausto, Joe DeCenzo, Dorothy Skiles, Marlene Hitt, Maja Trochimczyk

Drumming up the applause for Elsa S. Frausto, Eight Poet Laureate of Sunland Tujunga

Poets in the 4th of July Parade and Mina Kirby and Beverly Collins on July 28

The Poets Convertible, July 2013

Happy Fourth of July! Poets Laureate of Sunland Tujunga will ride in a Parade in a specially decorated Poetry Convertible. Dorothy Skiles, the 7th Poet Laureate of ST will be the star, accompanied by Marlene Hitt, the first Poet Laureate, Maja Trochimczyk, the sixth, and Joe DeCenzo, the fourth who will serve as the driver.

Look for us along the Foothill Blvd., from Mt. Gleason to Sunland Park. The Parade starts at 10 a.m. Rain or Shine! See some pictures from the previous parades:

Dorothy Skiles, Poet Laureate, 2012

STAR- SPANGLED SKIES

This Fourth of July -

Let’s give a cheer

our town’s

parade is here!

Marching bands,

horseback riders,

carriages, classic cars,

and cycles

all making their way

down the boulevard.

Neighbors greeting,

friends meeting,

flags waving high!

Children giving chase

as fire trucks go by,

spraying the crowds,

cooling them down.

Sunland-Tujunga

that’s our town!

Star-spangled skies

will surely be alight

for this town will shine

in celebration tonight!

Young folks’, old folks’, all folks’ 

eyes watching darkened skies

for the sights and sounds

of fireworks on jubilant display

on this our nation’s birth holiday!

Dorothy Skiles

07/03/13

©Copyright 2013 by D. Skiles

(Written for Sunland-Tujunga’s 2013 Fourth of July Parade.)

Dorothy Skiles and Joe DeCenzo, Fourth of July, 2012

Maja Trochimczyk, Poet Laureate, 2010 - Album of Photos

Maja Trochimczyk, Poet Laureate, 2011 - Album of Photos

Who has more stars on the hat? Maja or a donkey?

Marlene Hitt - Poet Laureate of 1999, has ridden with the Little Landers Society and the Bolton Hall Museum volunteers. This is the first year she's riding in the Poets Laureate Convertible. Here's her Fourth of July poem:

America the Beautiful

Purple mountain majesties,ridges lines with houses,
windows on fire with the sun,
plains fruited with lawns, 
beds with all the world's flowers,
strip malls.
Spacious haz-ed skiesdrop onto hillsides.
Ten thousand worlds spin
on city streets
and broken pathways.
Beliefs are slippery 
as brookside moss,
and all the laws begin
to slide downhill
into canyons below.
God shed
with brotherhood...
Death passes freely
through red signals,
killing is for fun
or for initiation.
All the genders dance
to piercing sound
making bird song silent.
Blades of eyes
thrust out in condemnation
as new legends are sung,
the old myths lost somewhere.
Changed words question
the Constitution.
Amber waves of grainstill wave, Wind
still blows, confused,
whirl, oceans warm.
Fractal gods rule in chaos
while the people
hide behind locked doors
or in empty cathedrals
from sea to shining sea.

Marlene Hitt 

Marlene Hitt and Maja Trochimczyk decorate the car for the Fourth of July, 2013.

_______________________________________________________________

KIRBY AND COLLINS FEATURED ON JULY 28, 2013

On July 28, 2013, the last Sunday of the first month of the summer, we will celebrate poetic voices at Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga (10110 Commerce Avenue) with two Featured Poets: Mina Kirby and Beverly M. Collins. Both poets have been seen and heard at Village Poets readings and we are looking forward to their presentations. Two segments of Open Mike and Refreshments in a lovely, historic home for poetry in the foothills...

BEVERLY M. COLLINS

Beverly M. Collins grew up in Westfield, New Jersey, loves amusement parks, music and traveling. Collins applies lessons she learned from Songwriter Guild of America and the National Association of Record Industry Professionals to her poetry. She is the author of the book, "Quiet Observations," and one of the 2012 prize winners for the California State Poetry Society.

Her work has appeared in the California Quarterly, Poetry Speaks! Year of Great Poems and Poets Calendar. (Sourcebooks, Inc.). Beverly Collins often attends many readings around town, has worked with "Poets on Site" and has featured at the Cobalt Cafe, The Talking Stick, "Unbuckled" NoHo Poetry. She is a regular at Barnes and Noble Burbank monthly readings, as well as at The VillagePoets of Sunland-Tujunga Monthly poetry Reading Series.


Next

by Beverly M. Collins

From the tip-top of January
to the bottom of every December,
life is a continuum.
May we remember to remember.

There are no platforms on which we
halt. No arrivals at which we are landing.
There is only continuous movement.
Blend motion into all planning.

Next is a good four letter word that dances
on the tongue and illuminates the playgrounds
of our minds. Next can call loudly or soft
and subtle when it chimes.

Within the cold of winter remember next comes
fragrant flowers of spring. Next reminds us
there is no be-all or end-all to anything.

When riding a high tide or if low tide has one
feeling sadness or perplexed, know true muscle
can be found in how well we just say...Next!

Beverly M. Collins

MINA KIRBY 

Mina Kirby is a retired mathematics professor. She has survived a broken washing machine, a broken back and a broken heart, all of which provide rich material for writing poetry and stories. She has for many years been a folk singer and sometimes songwriter. Plagued with health problems in recent years, her writing is part of coming back to life. Mina is the author of several books, including Mathematical Dreams: Songs about Mathematics, a cookbook, and eight chap books. Her poetry has been included in Red Lights (tanka), The San Gabriel Valley Poetry Quarterly, and Poetry and Cookies. She has presented her poetry at a number of venues, including Pasadena Art Talk. She lives in Altadena with her husband, daughter, two cats, a pet rat, and too many spiders.

When I Was Me *

by Mina Kirby

When I was me

in bow ribbons

and kittens

and ice cream

I saw spring melt

into a buttercup

and heard symphonies

in wind-wafted trees

When I was me

in turquoise

and breezes

and cartwheels

I ran up the mountain

the sun warm on my face

and caught sparkles

in a flowing brook

When I was me

lacy

and pink

and vibrant

I was in love

wanting togetherness

for every minute

and for all time

Where did I go

that long-haired

lemon-scented

idealistic girl

who thought

she could absorb

all the tastes

in the universe

What prickly troubles

put obstacles

in my path

changed starry-eyed into ordinary

or did I

caught in whispers

of shifting clouds

just let me slip away

Perhaps one day

when soft rains turn to sunshine

and flowing water

pours over hard rocks

in a small place inside myself

I will find clothed with soft smooth silk

in purple and crimson and gold

the new me

and learn to love her too

A Special Place

by Mina Kirby

It is warm here

Golden rays of sunshine

brighten green fields

fragrant with yellow flowers

The air sparkles

with hums of bees

and chirps of soaring birds

A gentle breeze ruffles my hair

In the distance

are sounds of an ocean’s roar

as it splashes against rocks

I could be here

yesterday

tomorrow

and today

I could be here in the sun

and the softly falling rain

in the cheerful daylight

and in the velvety darkness

I could be here with you

feel the warmth of your hand in mine

talk until the moon goes down

and stars sparkle in the night sky

We could walk

for miles and miles

absorbing the beauty

surrounding us

Or

I could be here alone

a little sadder

but content

as perhaps

some day

I will

cloaked in sunshine

remembering you