Friday, January 29, 2016



I heard your voice
It called
A lovely song
This grey and arctic day
To sound like spring
I looked beyond
My window to the trellis
Strung
With remnant vine
Of bittersweet
And bittersweet the notes
That rang
From tangled days of fall
Where rose and ivy’s frozen grip
Clung brittle to the wall
And though I searched each
Knitted nest
And wind swept sky
The notes alone were mine
My minstrel of the morn
I could not see
But feathered thoughts
Of crimson
Sang to me



Sara Mathews     January 2016

Tuesday, January 26, 2016



Even the mountains
Couldn’t hold you
The clear air
Pure stream
And shafts of sunlight
Streaking auburn
Through you
But like the mountain breezes
That stir the hearts of trees
And bend the skies
Due west
You
However wistfully
Wanting
Could never remain




Sara Mathews     January 2016

Friday, January 22, 2016



You can’t just write about flowers
She said
And as she hugged me goodbye
I thought of forget-me-nots
And when three days of rain
Blurred my sky
The brilliant orange poppies
Made my day full sun
Yesterday I heard bad news
And ran outside to find
Anything in bloom
You can’t just write about flowers -
Another hug
A less acquainted kind
Held me hungrily
As though I were a lifeline
And all my flowers
Rushed into my mind
A gardenful -
Of prayers




Sara Mathews     January 2016






Wednesday, January 20, 2016



Still in disbelief
Eyes wide as a chasm
A dilated kind of heartbreak
That black of black
That wanders back and forth
Unsettling sadness herself
This is how she is
She grabs hold
Climbs aboard
And is passenger now
Until the seas dry



Sara Mathews     January 2016

Sunday, January 17, 2016



The edge beyond
I clearly see
What hides behind
Reveals itself
What lies beneath
Is now exposed
The treasure is a key
In kind
What mist and swirl
Within my brain
Have settled into crystal ball
And question marks upon the air
Have hooked the answers
Well divined



Sara Mathews     January 2016

Saturday, January 16, 2016



Unhinged at 3 am
I swing from dream to sane
And back again
An unlatched gate
A squeaky mind
I find the perfect thought
To wind around
My brain
The kind that won’t shake free
The kind that harries me
Til 6 15



Sara Mathews     January 2016
Photo by Ingrid Mathews


What is this day to you
A renewing of a faith
A space to fill
A second chance at what
The deed of yesterday is true
But dust
It follows on the wind
And disappears
A gust of passing energy
The slate is clear
A pristine page
Is offered here
Within the morning



Sara Mathews     January 2016

Friday, January 15, 2016



It’s a complicated smile
Aged
Robust
Full bodied
With just a hint of heartbreak

And well protected play
On thought
Skims light
Across the day
And polished surface hides
All scratch mark



Sara Mathews     January 2016

Thursday, January 14, 2016



Who are  you, please?
I yell into the trees
As full as they can hold
Each branch a dance
Of note and song
And morning greetings to the world
The sky is swirled with wing
Of moderate
Midsized thing
In black attire
With no distinctive
Call
No feathered streak
Or marking do I see
What tidings these?
I don’t know who
Or what
Or whence
But here you are
Here
Here
And
Hear!
You sing



Sara Mathews     January 2016

Tuesday, January 12, 2016






Yesterday was warm
Today quite chilly
I never know
How to dress for you
I think I come prepared
For any climate
But never
Seem to get it right
I dress in layers
Of expectation
But at the summit
Find that I am
Too close to the sun
I throw off
All protection
And suffer
The exposure
My heart bleeds
In beautiful patterns
Like rose petals
In the snow


Sara Mathews     January 2016

Sunday, January 10, 2016



It’s a gentle sky
Silver soft like satin
But squint of golden eye
Peeps through
To indicate the east
In case it matters
In case I need to get somewhere
It’s a mild nudge of morning
Smudge grey
To ease me into day
No sharp edge
No loud or boisterous wind
Is banging at the door
To roust me up and out
Just easy thought
And tranquil window pane
A sweet reminder
In case one needs reminding
You are here



Sara Mathews     January 2016

Wednesday, January 6, 2016



The wildness of the wind that blows
Sends tumbleweeds around my mind
The sad and longing
Wailing wind
Transports me on his winged whim
To mustang land where cowboys ride
To plains of windswept buffalo
To rocky range where eagle
Soars and hang glides steep
And free falls low
To coastline pressed with reckless wave
Where beach is strewn with tidal news
The shipwreck bits and histories
That roll in with the restless muse
And tempest carries me away
To mountaintops of countries crest
And sets me down
At highest high
Where I can watch the world unfold
And perched above the wind himself
The cloud and sky become my soul

The wildness of the wailing wind
The loneliness of gale and gust
Is company that suits me best
And comfort in it’s wanderlust



Sara Mathews     January 2016

Monday, January 4, 2016



Every morning
 When I wake
          A measurement
           Of sorts I take
      I weigh
                  The daytime
                      And the dark
                            The heaviness
                                  Or light of heart
                               The strength
                             Or listing
                                  Of my will
                                            And how much
                                  Ballast
                                           It will take
                                                            To keep me straight






Sara Mathews     January 2016

Sunday, January 3, 2016



Three robins
On a maple bough
Swung low beneath the
Swirling storm
A picture in my mind they etched
So comfortable they seemed
And warm
Though blizzard whipped
And branches lashed
They waited out the
Fits and blasts
And sat amidst the throes of it
And there they bobbed
And rode the morn
And seemed quite happy
Unperturbed
Not huddling
Hunched
Or under wing
But dusted white and
Flocked in snow
Like pearls
Adorning breast of red
No ruffled feather out of place
No single note of song forlorn
As southern climes
They must have scorned
And chose to winter here instead




Sara Mathews     January 2016

Saturday, January 2, 2016



Where does she lead
With just a tease
Then just as deftly
Disappears
In flowing skirt
And fleeting shoe
Around the edge
She slips from me
I dream of her
But can’t keep up
She’s always one step gone
I follow most obediently
Forever
Almost company




Sara  Mathews      January 2016