Where are you going
whirred the wind
as she tripped at my feet
nagged at my sleeve
wait up she cried
you are faster than I
this morning
why
and the rain dropped
insisting I slow up a pace
but I kept her in tow
always one step behind
and the crow
even he
flapped his wet windy wing
but could not keep me shadow
today
I am off and away
from all feather and fuss
and all weathery muss
I take to the hills of
my kind of ideal
with a crow
and the rain
and the wind
at my heel

Sara Mathews     January 2023

Maxfield Parrish

 

I like January
the sharp clear breath of her
the sense to start again
so fresh
a mind can think
can leave the haze and
muddle of the past missteps
or unintended ways
a crisp new page she turns
that second face
a chance for words
to opposite themselves
despair to hope
effrontery to grace
to learn ourselves
from equal sides
accept our many flaws
and yet restored
in knowing
that as Januarys do
we all begin anew

Sara Mathews January 2022
Photography ~ Ingrid Mathews

This night is meant
for wandering
when hazy moon
drifts by and reaches in
to shake me
by surprise
she hovers at my window
there
bestirring me for company
and thus beseeched
I must oblige
arise she croons
and thence go I
barefooted soul
a hooded naif
I now belong to her
an eager child
I tread her wake
give up
chides she
all earthly care
the binds of humankind
and thrash your branchy arms
and throw your shadow high
climb up
up
these nights are solely
meant for we
these skies that whisk us
wayward wide
and tug our anchored core
we are not tree
connected fast
and rooted firm
stray free the grounding ties
unloose
uncurl
allow
the travelers life
we choose tonight
four winds shall bear us
soft and fleet
we'll set the sail
no chart nor will
and rudderless
we'll man the prow
as stars salt down
around us now

Sara Mathews     December 2022

 

On waking I believe
A careless wind has swept my thoughts
away
I had a dream of nice and warm
to get me through the
day
but wind had else in mind for
me
she wrested words for fun
and whirled them high
and ruffled them
and all the letters came
undone
and now I chase them here and
there
they scatter deftly through the
air
and run amok beneath the trees
and sweep the walk and rush the
leaves
and what is left
but sit
and stare
and
breathe

Sara Mathews     November 2022

Artwork ~ Kiyoshi Nakajima

 

I'm sorry for hogging
the top of the tree
but that's where I sit
if you look all around
there are other tall trees
but this one's not it
I am taller than tall
I can see all of all
from the length of my eye
and the width of my wing
I can understand earthlings
and sky-lings
and things
it should not be so hard
from this vantage I hold
if we cherished our vision
of blue green and gold
of the peace of the meadow
the rippling sea
the calm of the mountains
the strength of each tree
I can't give up my perch
but a neighbor you'd be
if you sat at the top
of the tree next to me
you would know what I know
at the crest of the world
if you nurtured your earth place
as would any bird
you would hold it to heart
you would understand all
if you'd just find a tree
that is taller than tall

Sara Mathews   July 2022
Photograph ~ Ingrid Mathews

 

Sometimes
the world
stops
the wind stops
the birds
stop
it's a pin drop
day
and I
will lose myself
and walk into the silence
until
my feet stop
until my mind lies down
amid the quiet
flowers
and the healing earth
has hidden me
and swaddled me
in hues of
noiseless color
and there I'll stay
until
the world
recovers

Sara Mathews     June 2022

Artwork ~ Duy Huynh (used with permission)

https://www.duyhuynh.com/duy-huynh-artwork/

 

the birds still sing
when I am at a loss
when news is grim
and day begins in every land
of peace and war
and stories that one
can't ignore
but yet cannot take in
the birds still sing
when right is muddled
into wrong
and hate and violence
grow strong
and selfless voices fade
and goodness too
the birds begin each day
anew
with hope
they pray in song
they sing

Sara Mathews ~ May 2022