Dawn Arrived in the Meadow
“I go to nature to be soothed and
healed, and to have my senses
put in order.” — John Burroughs
Dawn arrived in the meadow with a hint of
sweet fragrances of colorful wildflowers
wafting in the air. It awakened long-forgotten
memories in my mind about the apricot-colored
haze that sleeps in the woodland glen. The
woodlands are such special places, so colorful,
verdant, and serene. A place where downy birds,
holding on to gnarled tree branches, serenade
those who pass by, and ask for nothing more
than to give a piece of their tranquility, and a
serving of their sugared songs, to put the
human’s minds at ease. And I, an old man, listen
to them with dreams of past youthful days filled
with images of softly flowing streams flowing
into still, blue-skinned ponds, where wavering
reeds topped with brown tassels sitting like
sentinels on the side guarded the serenity of the
moisture. Forest meadows are places where the
misty atmosphere sings of summer’s beginning.
But anytime is a special time in the woodlands,
being in there is always a time when magic
awakens.
Another Day Comes
The rising apricot sun
ignites the dawn
clothing it with
a colorful visitation,
covering the remaining
night hours soaked in ebony.
Its daily tour over mountain
peaks and down into a
pink-tinted mist sleeping in
the earth’s hollows of
objectivity where things that
are invincible cover silent
things. Things that are
restless and vulnerable, like
people with aging time. My
solitary footprints in the soft
sedimentary loam leads me to
the new day with no promises
of beauty, or peace, but with
expectations born in naïve
hopefulness for them, like
fading hours caught in the
thundering clatter of stories
yet to be told.
James G. Piatt, a retired professor, and octogenarian, is a twice Best of Net nominee and four-time Pushcart nominee. He has had five poetry books, The Silent Pond, Ancient Rhythms, LIGHT, Solace Between the Lines, and Serenity, over 1770 poems, five novels, and thirty-five short stories published in scores of national and international literary magazines, anthologies, and books, He earned his doctorate from BYU, and his BS and MA from California State Polytechnic University, SLO.
Sparks of Calliope 