Photo by Ingrid Mathews


I cried one solitary teardrop
Like a cloud
It gathered all my hopes and fears
In unshed tears
And delicate as it was
It carried the weight of the world
And as it traced it’s way
My face became the story
It scrolled my cheek with songs
Of victory
Regrets
And Joyous memory
I caught it carefully
And cradled it within my hands
I sought my visage
In the rainbow bands
And then the tear transformed
Into a crystal ball
Revealing days ahead
And past
Daughters
Mothers
Grandmothers
Greats
All the similar triumphs
All the same mistakes
We were an army in a prism orb
I knew my mission then
I held the future of my children
Of us all
Within this tear
I walked my offering to the sea
My salt of sorrow
My vigilance of tomorrow
I slipped our teardrop
To his care
And prayed
Arms wide
He caught us on a rising tide!




Sara Mathews     January 2017

Photography by Ingrid Mathews

What’s the Phoebe doing here
In coldest cold
And barest bones of year
A sentinel on skeleton of
Boughs that crack the brittle air
And where’s his little mate
He calls for so beseechingly
Has he remained to look for her
Phoe-be
The depth of winter swallowing his plea
Phoe-be
Phoe-be
His two note song deep frozen there
Wrapped in winter’s will
No other music to be heard
But one lone bird
We wait together
He and I
Though all in vain
No answer comes
No sweet reply
No love to keep him warm
And Spring too far away




Sara Mathews     January 2017

It’s as though it means something
This gentle snow
The wide eyed flakes
So quiet in descent
Gaining ground
Gathering soundless
Heartbeats
Like separate letters falling
The lacy thoughts collecting
Sifting memories
Softly
Softly
They pound like hooves
Upon the stillness




Sara Mathews     January 2017