After the Storm

This morning, in church, I was asked to read a poem that I wrote some years ago. It was about waiting, and reminded me of a poem that I had started to write last month that was waiting to be finished. This afternoon I finished it. An autumn poem for the season that I find myself in right now:

After the storm there is a calm

that settles on the ground
like the morning dew.
I stand in the mist,
feel the solid earth beneath my feet
and wait
for the dawning of this new day.
Lifeless leaves still fall
orange and red
like fiery tears around me.
The gentle breeze cannot lift
the splintered branches
ripped from the heartwood.
The ray of light reaching
through the clouds
cannot bind the severed timbers.
Yet
after the storm there is a calm
that invites me to observe
the changed landscape
where I stand
on the unshakeable but tear-soaked ground
and wait.

Caterpillar

I had a lot of caterpillars in my garden this year. They had a fantastic time eating the vegetables that I was trying to grow! Then, having left their mark, they disappeared. And instead I found, in the dark corners under the decking and hanging from the eaves of the shed, cocoons. A few weeks later my garden was filled with butterflies.

In my experience, there are a lot of similarities to a parent watching children grow and change.

In the sunshine

I watched you

Flex and stretch

Take tentative steps

To explore the boundaries of your green world

And discover what lies beyond

Growing and exploring

Expanding your horizons

Unconfined and free.

Then you stopped.

I looked

And you were gone

Out of sight

Shrunk in on yourself

Your world contracted

As you spun a web around yourself

Silently

Shutting all out.

In the darkness

I watched you

Waited for you

To emerge from the confines of your cocoon

To flex and stretch

Open wide your wings

And reveal the unique beauty of you

As you were destined to be

Flying high.

Paper Boat

 ...and here's another, written at a different time, for a different child:

From this source

You were released

To joyfully explore

The endless possibilities and paths

Unbounded

You made your way

Racing the tumbling stream

With excitement

Into the broadening river

To set sail

Effortlessly traversing the wide waters

Until 

The mist descends

And the mighty mountains

Scaled in your youth

Rise into grey

Familiar landmarks vanish

As you are enveloped in the fog

Disoriented

Uncertain

But yet

You are still afloat

And there is still a light

Consistently flashing beacon of hope

Calling through the haze

There is still a way

A path through the rocky waters

To this safe haven.

Future Flourishing

Raising teenagers is challenging. Especially teenagers dealing with the emotions arising from major changes in their lives. I don't always get it right, but I try.  Over the past year I have written a few poems particularly for my children. Here is one:

There are seasons

In us

Around us

And if my flourishing spring

Coincides with your stormy winter winds

Know this:

We are still rooted

Together in the same ground

Foundations firm enough to hold us both

Through the changing weathers.

And I have faith to believe

Your sapling tree can bend

Unbroken by the gale

Strengthened by the flexing

Hoping one day you’ll see

The shelter of my evergreen

Standing close beside you

Until your summer comes.