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Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 

Disasters, Delights and Other Detours - 87. Stealing a March

I cannot seem to get enough of the skyscraper form. Just when I think I'm done with it, more encounters with the world frame themselves in these ordered lines. These are a few observations from a season of change and unchanging beauty. As usual, any and all errors are mine.

Snowflakes swirl

out of the predawn dark,

landing on my unmasked, upturned face;

do they laugh at the fast approaching equinox,

jostling for position while they fall,

or is it just the wind

I’m hearing?

 

 

Three black crows

sail against the north wind,

darker than the clouds framing their flight,

voiceless in the roaring chorus of the fir trees

whose tops wave with religious fervor

when chill Pentecost comes

before snow.

 

 

I rejoice

in small, imperfect gifts;

a sweet gurgle of unlocked waters,

the sway of redwing blackbirds in the tall marsh reeds,

cardinals calling in cottonwoods,

and the porch light shining

through the trees.

 

 

Spruce branches

frame the crescent moon

as dawn’s first flush pales the horizon;

two great horned owls sing the psalm at morning matins

in their dark evergreen cathedral,

their bass antiphon a

prayer for peace.

 

 

Low candles

flutter in the cold draft

stealing in around the window frame,

their length spent in the night and their brightness faded,

soon shouldered aside by the morning

inking color on your

sleepy smile.


I wish to thank @AC Benus for introducing me to this form, which is his own invention. We are richer for his creation. If you have any comment or observation to share, I'm always glad to see it.
Copyright © 2017 Parker Owens; All Rights Reserved.
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Poetry posted in this category are works of fiction. Names, places, characters, events, and incidents are created by the authors' imaginations or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual persons (living or dead), organizations, companies, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you. 
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Chapter Comments

Headstall

Nice flow to all of these, Parker. Thanks for the vivid imagery... my brain has been a wasteland of late, but I heard the wind, the twitters and screeches and calls, and felt the morning chill....

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AC Benus

Wow, Parker, a very spiritual collection. There is nothing proselytizing in them; only centered observance relating to deeper meanings beyond the self of the poet.

Since it's just passed, the first of the collection immediately made me feel the silent prayers of Higan for departed loved ones. On the Japanese calendar, Higan corresponds to the spring equinox (the holiday happens to start today, March 17th). It's a beautiful poem where a raised face can be a stand-in for hands raised in prayer.

As much as I admire all of them, I'll voice a fondness for the "I rejoice" poem. Its clear, unassuming, yet spiritually laden voice sings with a total mastery of the Skyscraper's mathematical metre. The rhythm of the rising and falling lines carrying your message is breathtaking.  

They are all very beautiful. Wonderful work    

Edited by AC Benus
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Parker Owens
On 3/16/2021 at 11:01 AM, Headstall said:

Nice flow to all of these, Parker. Thanks for the vivid imagery... my brain has been a wasteland of late, but I heard the wind, the twitters and screeches and calls, and felt the morning chill....

I'm very happy you could hear and see what I have been able to observe in these last weeks. Thank you for coming with me on my morning walks.

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Parker Owens
17 minutes ago, AC Benus said:

Wow, Parker, a very spiritual collection. There is nothing proselytizing in them; only centered observance relating to deeper meanings beyond the self of the poet.

Since it's just passed, the first of the collection immediately made me feel the silent prayers of Higan for departed loved ones. On the Japanese calendar, Higan corresponds to the spring equinox (the holiday happens to start today, March 17th). It's a beautiful poem where a raised face can be a stand-in for hands raised in prayer.

As much as I admire all of them, I'll voice a fondness for the "I rejoice" poem. Its clear, unassuming, yet spiritually laden voice sings with a total mastery of the Skyscraper's mathematical metre. The rhythm of the rising and falling lines carrying your message is breathtaking.  

They are all very beautiful. Wonderful work    

Thank you for your response to these skyscrapers. I love that you connected with the spirit in which I wrote of these observations. I knew nothing of Higan, but my thoughts in these past dark weeks have been with so many people who have lost loved ones, and for those who have passed. With the advancing light, it becomes easier to rejoice, however. Little by little, these things lift the heart every day. Your words are both humbling and vastly encouraging. Thank you.

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northie

I missed this post somehow. My favourite is the great horned owls. I read it, then considered AC's comment, and read it again. The layers of meaning, of word painting, slowly reveal themselves. I love owls. They can be seen as creatures of ill-repute, but not here. Thank you for these. They all bear re-reading.

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Parker Owens
1 hour ago, northie said:

I missed this post somehow. My favourite is the great horned owls. I read it, then considered AC's comment, and read it again. The layers of meaning, of word painting, slowly reveal themselves. I love owls. They can be seen as creatures of ill-repute, but not here. Thank you for these. They all bear re-reading.

Thank you for taking time to read and comment on these. It’s interesting to re-read them as we hurtle toward a different equinox. The owls, of which we’re both fond, have started calling again, stirred by the first cool breath of wind in weeks. There is much to add to my rejoicing, but that may have to wait until I sharpen my pencil. 

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