Muskrat Love
Doing it in the ditch
on a fine spring afternoon
muskrats find romance
Author Archives: Sarah McElrath
Day 23 – Poetry for Lent
Taking Home With Us
The stars shine high
above the clouds
above the bombs
which scatter us like dust
every which way
looking to settle
but driven by winds
of war
and fear.
We try to take home with us
a teddy bear for security
of which we have none
a photograph of family
many whom have died
a blue china tea pot -
keepsake from happier times
now hard to remember
a heart burning with hope
for a future
for safety
for a place to build
to plant and grow roots
find neighbors and friends.
We dream of things we have lost
and hold tight to what we still have.
Day 22 – Poetry for Lent
Daffodils
It would be easier
to sleep
blanket of snow
tucked over your head
dreaming of sunny
spring days
It is so difficult
to bloom
to turn your face up and
greet the new day
when it is cold
and lonely
But you, brave daffodil
brighten everyone’s winter
days just by being
and winter will not
last forever
One day the sun
will kiss you
awake
and you will trumpet
your joy to the world
Day 21 – Poetry for Lent
Oiy! The news can weigh me down. I feel like I’m generally an optimistic person, but lately, after I watch the news, it’s hard for me to be hopeful about the future of our country, environment, schools, water….
Missing hope
I boxed up hope
some time ago
and can’t remember where I hid it.
I searched and found
despair and doubt,
and came across indifference
buried deep within
an empty chest.
But hope still came up missing.
I dug through pockets worn before,
paged through scrapbook memories,
even found a thread or two
on lovers, family, friends.
But still hope came up missing.
A niggling fear begins to grow
I’ve caught it up with other things
and dumped or gave away
to those with less.
I need it now,
I understand,
to clothe
my skeleton of stone.
But hope still comes up missing.
Day 20 – Poetry for Lent
Creator
Half way through Lent! I didn’t really realize how difficult it would be to do a poem a day for 40 days. Hence the resorting to Haiku now and then. : ) I saw the most amazing sunsets yesterday and today. And the stars! Incredible.
Teach me Your story
so I might know mine
so I can know others
so I’ll worship
You
God of all
Ruler, Creator
beginning and end
of all that is known
and what lies beyond
Beginning
of all
a universe in
ever expanding wonder
body, brain, and soul
intricate workings
a marvelous mystery
Yet
End of all too
all roads, all lives
return back to You
in time
Lord, You
make and unmake
now remake me new
know me
name me
and love me too
when I circle back
iron drawn to Your magnet
a needle pulled ever
to Your north
Day 19 – Poetry for Lent
Still, Small Whisper
Sometimes there is so much noise in the news, on social media. I feel like everyone is yelling and no one is listening. And then something happens, a friend in a car wreck, a co-worker loses a spouse, and it reminds me what is important–and what is just noise.
Listen
The wild, roaring
rush of wind
surges through trees
like ocean breakers
crashing eternal
on rocky shores.
Listen
Snapping branches
create staccato accents
amid percussive storms
that blow
fear and hatred
through busy lives.
Listen
Hail rattles
down on hapless towns
hitting innocent bystanders
like stray bullets
and extinguishing the still, small
whisper of love.
Listen
We are all
but a near miss,
a second removed
from getting swept up
and blown away.
Listen
Day 18 – Poetry for Lent
Ruth
I would not leave
though she told me,
Go back, find rest
a husband
a home.
I could not leave
for she was
a mother to me
her people, my family
her home, my home.
I dared not leave, for
how would she manage
alone and destitute
hands veined blue
legs morning shaky?
And so I followed
that I might be
her hands young and strong
her legs spry in the morning
sturdy in the evening
her family in the new land
her daughter
Ruth.
Day 17 – Poetry for Lent
Muskrat Sighting
He shuffles along
in his fuzzy brown coat
little whiskery old man face
peering nearsighted around
in search of a mid-morning snack.
I step out the front door
to say hello, and he startles.
Those beetle-black eyes spot me
and he flees,
odd bouncing gait comical,
leathery tail dragging
behind like an unfastened belt.
Wait, I call,
but a faint splash from the ditch
is the muskrat's only answer.
I pile acorns by the bank
as a peace offering.
Day 16 – Poetry for Lent
Radical Grace
Revolution brewing Revolution
Hunger & rage brewing hunger
breed and rage breed
Rebellion born unrest
Districts rise On a donkey
the Mockingjay Jesus
a symbol Savior
a tool unwillingly a Son willingly
wielded sacrificed
to strike the capitol to save the people
violence justified forgiveness granted
They get what we got what
they deserve we didn't deserve
Day 15 – Poetry for Lent
Season Change
In Detroit today for a conference and when I was looking at the green water of the river, there was this weird whitish section floating down stream with birds sitting in the midst of it. I looked closer and noticed that it was a large chunk of ice. The Spring thaw is here!
icebergs on water
mini islands for the birds
spring thaw on rivers