Literary Vegan: March 2021

Thursday 25 March 2021

Lady Jane Grey

How came I here

Closing Boleyn's own curtains?

I look around, speculative, silent,

The ghost of a crown

Still on my head,

Flickering like the candles

In the dark.

I kneel in prayer

My faith is a fire

Higher than the fireplace flame -

But I am housed in

Treasonous coals.

Tuesday 23 March 2021

The Trees

The trees rebuilt the old stone church.

Their trunks took their places among the pews,

Where the plant-covered pillars used to be.

Leaves entered the window spaces

And wound around the empty panes

That once pictured Eden.

The branches, curious, felt along the wooden carvings of creatures,

Then let the animals in.

And the treetops replaced the high arches,

As they themselves bowed

Their heads down in prayer.

Robin, Singing

Follow me, Robin

When the people come back

And noise returns

When I have to wear

My other self in buildings.

Follow me

You sitting free on branches,

With me looking up

Not thinking about everything

I am doing or have done -

Just feet and roots and sun

And you, singing.

Saturday 20 March 2021

Interval

Pastel skies

And pairs of birds

The Sun appears sometimes,

Soft like ballerina steps -

Previews of the scenes to come.

But the cold still lingers

Fingers are curled into cardigan sleeves.

The interval isn't over

Yet.

Monday 15 March 2021

The Statued Queen

Such statues we,

Accused unjustly

Hold innocence

In stone -

Heavier than

Our crowns

That you made us

Take down,

Only now

To be

Lifted higher

In effigy

For others to see.

Wednesday 10 March 2021

Poetry Haiku

I love poetry

Because just one word can make

All the difference

Understood

The same clouds are drifting

That I saw a minute ago

The light hasn't changed

My feet haven't moved

But I have just read

A simple message from you

And now my day feels different,

So different,

Because you made me feel

Understood.

My Sun and Moon

My cat makes crescent shapes

On the bed

She is my moon,

Soft white light following me

Wherever I go in the dark.

The tiger orange circle

On the chair

Is my sun,

My wake up call in the morning

Hovering over my head.

The next time

I don't feel connected

To the outside, to nature,

I will remember this -

That the lights in the sky

Came down to join me -

That there are also

Worlds inside walls.

The Journey

When I read stories,

There are camp fires

And caves

Or blankets

Or inns -

All are chapters

Not to be missed.

So then,

Why do I find it so hard to see,

For myself

That pauses are powerful,

That resting is still part of

The journey?

Tuesday 9 March 2021

Pinecones

I went to the forest

To gather some words

To bring home

Like the children do

The dried pinecones

To cover in glitter.

Above me the dark green canopy

Was a kaleidoscope -

Shifting triangles of white light

With each movement.

Underneath, the pale brown leaves

Were peppered with acorns

And secret signs of buried treasure

Only the squirrels know.

The stream was excited

Because it rained last night

And I, because more movement

Means more dancing of the light

On surface of the water,

That I watched from the bank

Made of rocks and roots -

And the face of a rat,

Now and then.

I walked back to the tree trunks

Where I did find plenty of pinecones,

But these were the words I put in my pockets to pull out again

And cover in glitter.

Saturday 6 March 2021

I cannot see
The Sun
As a chariot -
Even if she was
Sheathed in gold -
For she would not be pulled
By anything.
No, she must be the horse itself -
Her hair of flame
Rippling with her power
That we could only follow,
Being the passengers.

Across The Horizon

I have seen rainbows arch

And fall down waterfalls,

But this twilight sky

Was a rainbow rolled out

Across the horizon

The colours matched exactly -

As though one painter's pallette

Had seeped in

To another's landscape portrait -

Sunset referencing sunlight.

Literary Vegan

Pages