I don’t know how you do it
Achieve such warmth
Such chilliness
In one sentiment
Divide me into hope
And despair
With one casual greeting
Make me soar
And crash down
In one breath
I left my heart
For your safekeeping
But it’s come back home
Weary and forlorn
We unpack it’s little bags
And carefully sort and fold
The lessons learned




Sara Mathews     December 2015

I rose up high
Til I was just beneath
The gray and fragile dome
And there I perched
Without a branch
Or cloud
Just me
Suspended
Peacefully below
The peeling paint
And plaster ceiling
Flake of snow
And then I floated down
Amidst the shattering
Of sky
How quietly we fell
How silent was the tolling
Of the bell




Sara Mathews     December 2015

Look at the stars
At dawn you said
I stepped out gingerly
Into the crystal grass
My bare feet tingling
With the heat of frosty cold
And stood beneath the
Twinkling canopy
A luminescent morning shell of
Oyster grey
The grandest jewels
Of the night
Still glittering on
Long after all the other
Party guests had gone
You said to look for Jupiter
And Sirius
Orion and the moon
I found them all still orbiting
The ball
His majesty and court
Were dancing one last waltz
I couldn’t name them all
To call out gratitude
But finally
That one elusive star
I’d searched the sky
For every childhood night
I found to be a morning star
And there it was
The second to the right
And though it beckoned me
With fairy dust to
Fly away
I stayed below
With chilly toes and gazed
With grounded wonder
At the breaking
Silver dawn
And watched the sun pour in
With liquid gold to
Sweep the moon and stars
Off dancing feet
And cast her aura wide and down
On frosted lawn
I raised my arms up to absorb
Her goddess glow
And flew in place
With heart and spirit soaring
In the pure and honest
Morning grace  




Sara Mathews     December 2015                                                                                                                            

The sky is grey on deeper grey
And cloud on deeper cloud
And something dark is brewing
In this marbled evening shroud
And all the swifts have blown away
To safer lands than me
As I hold fort beneath the limbs
Of thrashing maple tree
And as the storm grows wilder
Dropping crocodile rain
I’m cleansed of all anxiety
Like poultice drawing pain




Sara Mathews     December 2015

And so they tumbled out
Like drowning words
Bursting to the surface
Needing Air
Neither of us ready
Or wanting to own them
They hung there between us
These little bits of darkness
Like shards of broken glass

But a passing sun
Caught their colors
And made them shimmer
A sigh of wind
Made them tremble
And chime
In beautiful sorrow
We smiled at this broken music
And walked away
Leaving that fragile melody
Unresolved

Sara Mathews      December 2015

My, you’ve grown
I saw you weeks ago
You crept along the threshold
Just outside
And slanted light
Beneath the stable door
Made your tiptoed shadow grow
To more formidable
Than what you were
And I stopped a moment
In my work
A bit alarmed
And thought you were a rat
But then you scampered out
To grab a bit of feed
And showed yourself
For what you really were
A tiny soul
And I marveled at your bravery
As back and forth you went
Between mouse hole
And barn floor
And I thought
Poor thing
You won’t last long
With two great hunters
On the prowl
You’re too petite in size
Too confident
Too debonair
And I scolded you in
Your foolhardiness
To show yourself midday
And then went on about my chores
And watched your frantic escapades and
Mourned for your demise
But here you are again today
Your belly showing signs of victory
Outwitted felines stymied by your
Acrobatic prowess  
And as I’m quite impressed
With your ability
To thrive against the odds
And present company
I leave a gift beside your door
To reward your courage and agility
A red and white striped peppermint
For you to carry home and share
Amongst your family
With best wishes to you all and
Merry Christmas
Little mouse!

Sara Mathews     December 2015

False hope
Like one last stubborn stitch
On rended heart
Remains
To clutch a sad soliloquy
And never quite believes
The wrenching storm that
Swept our fate
To separate shores
And bade
What’s mine is mine
Your island
Yours
No victory to claim



Sara Mathews     December 2015

Photo by Ingrid Mathews

"I want to be with those who know secret things or else alone."
~ Rainer Maria Rilke


And as the gentle breezes rocked the branches
Like a cradle
The leaves whispered secrets in the dark
They didn’t know I was wide awake
They didn’t know I could hear
And I heard wonderful truths
Like silver transparencies of spirits
They eased in and out of my consciousness
Like the ebb and flow of a moonlit tide
Too fragile to hold
Or carry with me til morning
But the night voices still brush across my mind
Airy as a butterfly's wing
Or the kiss of an eyelash
And the sun rises strong to find me renewed
With a different kind a faith
The knowledge of belonging
And a heart newly born and beating
To the universal pulse of all living things
The leaves look innocent in the soft light of morning
As if they had not played a role at all
As though their lips were sealed when the sun rolled over the mountain
But I know what I have come away with
And we are together in the conspiracy of quiet
There is an interlude of complete peace
When even the birds
Who tuned up with the first gossamer thread of dawn
Take a few moments to pause in prayer
The breezes cease
The trees go still
And the world bows it’s head
Folds it’s hands
And offers
Here we are


Sara Mathews     December 2015

How dismal is the morning
In your absence
It’s not the same
No spark
No flame
Just smoky mist
And sputtering rain
And sodden leaf
Pressed sadly to the pane



Sara Mathews     December 2015

I had a dream of rain
That washed the paint away
And woke to find it so
As droplets hung from
Autumn
Stripping color
Crimson and magenta
Slipping from the point of every leaf
As hints of gold and russet
Dripped to sepia
And sepia dripped to sketch of
Pen and ink
And lingering flowers faded
Like a lifeblood slowly
Drained away from cheek
The rouges pooled and seeped
Into the soil from
Whence their palette was begun
And white complexion
Blinked
And stared into the sun



Sara Mathews     December 2015

If I could capture any night
It would be this
We stepped out
Into black
Without a star
Or moon to light our way
But just our little flash
To make the path
While just behind
A gaping darkness
Swallowed up the glow
And tread as close as shadow
At our heels
As faithful friend and I
Made our trek into the cavernous eve
The only sound
A spirit wind in ruffling leaves
And syncopated beat upon the ground
Of acorns raining down
To strike an emptiness at our feet
And I thought about the little chick
And how perhaps a hat would be
A wise accessory
But we continued on
Beneath the falling skies
As ebony drew us in with velvet cloak
Around our forms
And led us further down the quiet
Country road where no-one else
Had ventured out
And we reveled in the dark
And solitary world
As though the night was just for us
And when at last we turned
We caught the moonrise
Brimming up behind
The mountain line
And stood enrapt
To watch his full ascent
Brush trees and clouds
Apart to clear the climb
Up to his throne
Though peasants that we were
The dog and I felt sanctified
Bathed in moonlight
Held by dark
And entertained with acorn drum
We whispered thanks unto the night
And slowly ambled home




Sara Mathews     December 2015

Last eve we wandered
Eye to eye
Me and milky marbled sky
Grey as slate
And white as light
We watched the day
Become the night
And thought as one
The sky
And I

We strolled along
In perfect pace
As he kept time with mine
We talked our talk
And shared the day
And everything was white
And grey

I asked
If he would see me home
And he agreed amenably
We watched the evening’s
Parting throes
In grey and white
Tranquility




Sara Mathews     December 2105

You roll like rapids on the night
A freight train bearing down
With dark and ominous anarchy
You bring the curtain down
A dragon’s fireless smoky breath
Blows out the sun with ease
And trees are leveled ruthlessly
And bared of all their leaves
As lightening strikes it’s molten brand
To thunderous refrain
I stand here stalwart in my step
Washed to the bone with rain




Sara Mathews     November 2015

Let me go home...

I remember the place you speak of
It was just beyond the pasture line
Where one could slip into the trees
And disappear
Into another world
Like stepping through a jade leaf gate
And leaving farm behind
The curtained foliage conspired
In your escape
And fell around each step
To hide you in your wake
As winding pathway pulled you further in
To forest sanctuary

I didn’t linger there
The way you did
But sought my own retreat
Of sunny ledge
While you were drawn to shaded gallery
A darkened theater
Where slanted sun
Projecting through the leaves
Was just enough to light the way
To this idyllic woods salon
It’s here you tarried many
Noons to beat the heat that summer
Dawned
Where beech trees gathered
To commune
Around an old spring well
A granite centerpiece
In mossy emerald finery
That beckoned one
To dip the cold refreshment
Of it’s hold

And if you sat quite silently
The dainty deer
Would prick their ears
And step out
Through the underbrush
Of their midday
To share the sweet oasis
Hide-away

It was our father’s favorite haunt
And morning prayer
We’d see him headed there
Each early unshod step
Left footprints in the dew
Of chilly ritual
With old tin pail beside the spring
He’d pour a frigid baptism
A gasping cold renewal
Made

You shared this chapel in the trees
And worshipped here
In separate ways

I know the place you speak of
It’s just beyond the pasture line
And in your heart
Where beech grove
Ever keeps
A shady spot

Sara Mathews     November 2015