Then came the days of purpled haze
When trees shattered in scattered leaf
Over the marquee of play-days
Felled by the sickle in Fall’s sheaf
…and gardens, like a poem writ
And read until we dearly knew
Each bob and lilt, spilled bit by bit
Where once green shoots of half-dreams grew
…while spring, like a bloom-baron crowned
Be-gowned earth in pink froth, soft gold
Before the quickened kiss that found
The chink in its amorous hold
…as one by one days were undone
And afternoons ran red, leaf-shed
Beneath the wreath of saffron sun
Where once-upon-a-childhood fled
© Janet Martin
Today I do believe spring has turned a corner...
the sun bloomed like a dandelion
in a field of corn-flowers
Today I dreamed in color,
the flavors of garden-dirt
cleansing winter from my hands
Today I wore flipflops
And poured an outdoor tea
the cup of nature overflowed with birdsong
Today we are all poets,
believers,
minstrels
beneath
a benevolent sky...
(an excerpt from the book pictured above)
