Poems from Linda's poetry collection Falling Into Light (TBP)

Falling into Light

I dream of chickadees
that touch and flutter
as they land
on outstretched palm
survival over fear
a momentary trust
connect then disconnect
as we do tentative and
at the slightest pretext
connoisseurs of recoil
pale wings flashing back
through doorway after
darkened doorway
watching waiting
tracing pathways
in and out invisible
and thin as paper wings
heady forays into
glaring light and sound
moments caught and gone
like seeds adrift in wind
we tread thin floorboards
shadows always
black on black
hoping for that patient
footfall open hand
the unexpected falling into light.

Prairie Earth

On this prairie
I am invincible
I fly from bluff to bluff
embrace flatness, brush
my belly across full grown oats
fling water drops
against the rising heat
dive into sloughs, curl fingers
through its root mat floor
disappear inside a canopy
of tall, thick brooding stalks
face down
lips, breasts and pelvis
pressed against my prairie earth.

The Intimacy of Fog

Fog
reduces
perimeters
perspective
hugs you
on all sides
renders each
oncoming
object into
misty Matisse
renditions
soft and drifting
almost
figments
of imagination
almost
not quite there

My Seventieth Year

by Seventy -
I can
make pronouncements
rail at mediocrity
tackle staid tradition
slide into flippancy
cater sloth
become a crone
hold court with words
use silence as a sword
speak with impunity
of miracles

Echoes

From sleeplessness
in the still
morning
echoes of you
remain
your words
lay like stars
the paper
universe
love-spangled
their cradle warmth
surrounds me
shields me from
the darkness
of myself.