– Poetry by Claudia Greenwood –
On Cue
Also available in Issue 13 of Dreamers Magazine
Small leaf,
drought burned and curled,
ensnared mid-flight
by a single silver strand
spun during the night
unseen
by someone on a different journey.
You have paused in your death drop
before my window
diverting my thoughts.
As I watch you spin,
pushed now by a breeze
I see myself
in your tiny skeleton,
caught and spinning,
having come to write
a tribute to my son,
but unable to
wrap my heart around
final words.
Ah, there you go.
A stronger breeze
has broken the span
that held you
suspended
and released you gently
to short-cropped grass below.
I, too, must move on.
Thank you for
falling, for waiting, for falling
before my window
to let me know that I, too,
can complete my task,
find peace,
and gentle rest.
Not Yet
Ideas dart on angel wings
through nuggets of joy
shards of pain
towards pages I cannot fill,
poems I cannot write.
Not yet.
Perhaps soon they will ride
on mellow notes,
take hold,
take shape,
find form.
Not yet.
Perhaps soon
they will glide
on shimmering water
to a mooring
in a quiet, private space
and drop anchor
where words wait,
impatient to tell
not one but many
stories of a babe
a boy
a man
who inestimably
enriched my life.
Not yet.
About the Author – Claudia Greenwood
Dr. Claudia Greenwood retired as Professor Emeritus from Kent State University. During her thirty year tenure her writing was primarily academic, published in professional journals. Poetry was her diary. Following the death of her adult son poetry became her life line.
Since her retirement, she has read to audiences of seniors in retirement communities and to groups overcoming loss. She has been published in “The Best of Arizona Writers” (2019), “The Closed Eye Open” and “The Silent World in Her Vase” and “Poet’s Choice.”
Did you like this poem by Claudia Greenwood? Then you might also like:
The Identified Patient
What I want the surgeon to know
Sanctuary, and other poems
The Body as Poem
Metaplasia and other poems
This is What Death Does
Where Courage Lives
The Psychiatric Patient Profiled in My Application
Modern Medical Miracles
What the Mirror Says
Writing Myself Alive: An Episodic Poem
Breathing; Love These Lively Things
Oh Emma; Slow Dancing
In the Mirror, For My Mother
Zenstronomy: Zen of Instruction, Godma, Astrophysical Reality
To check out all the poetry available on Dreamers, visit our poetry section.
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