night sky

John Bauer
Riddaren Rider, 1914
Wikimedia Commons

i fell from the sky

moonlight dancing

on bits of memory

etched on junk dna

left behind

as the universe

found its rhythm.

i called out to the sun

to find its way to me

a memory imprinted

copyright/all rights reserved Audrey Howitt 2014

Posted for Poets United

the need to weed

wikimedai commons

Natubico

Life's changes continue to unfold 

without reference to the desires of my heart. 

Plans feel mired

 unkempt. 

I suppose i could weed a bit, 

but i like the feel of the grasses

 high up on my thigh as i wade through them--

just a bit of sun behind them.

copyright/all rights reserved

Audrey Howitt 2014

Transformation's Petals

wikimedia commons

Jef132

Bourgeon de rose sous les gelées alsaciennes

It is a year of transformation, not so much because I desire it, although I am restless by nature, but more so because it is trust upon me. And even though I have mentally prepared for much of it, I find myself reacting more than I would like--it is like dodging bullets of some kind I think. 

transformation fills the air

its motion insistent

its sound intrepid

a sense that i could do without

i suppose

i think

as it jerks my arm

waking me.

its heart, a bud really

about to unfold

the unfolding seems inevitable

and like all spent flowers,

petals will litter my floor.

copyright/all rights reserved Audrey Howitt 2014

for dverse OLN

A Lesson in Letting Go

wikipaintings.org

William Adolphe Bouguereau

Portrait of Gabriella, 1890

This winter has been a lesson in letting go. My children move on, inhabiting their lives, finding the path they are meant to walk. I want to hold them in my arms and tell them the secrets i have learned--that life is short and that love is sweet, even when it fails, that in their time, i wish them all the joy their lives can possibly contain, so much so that it spills out and inhabits those around them. I want them to know that they hold a place inside me that no one will ever dislodge.

There is no magic in this. It is only that I love them. And the letting go means that I trust them enough to let their wings loose in the world to soar as they should.

Heart outstretched

i find the pulse of you

moving through air

a soft weave against my cheek.

copyright/all rights reserved Audrey Howitt 2014

May it always be so

wikimedia commons

Louis Janmot

Poème de l'âme (16) : Le Vol de l’âme

in the public domain in the United States

How many ways are there to feel your soul pass through mine

I balance you on the tip of my heart sometimes 

just to see your face as I recall it when you were small

and still your sweet voice sweeps through me when I least expect it

a tumult in my eyes

brings me to my knees

I look at pictures of other children and still see you 

in your wildness

and in your strength.



may it always be so




copyright/all rights reserved Audrey Howitt 2014

Thank you Beth

Shorts in January

it should be colder
this winter
no wind whips by

i saw a girl walking downtown today
in shorts
it is january

six months from now
i expect that we will all be hoarding water
putting bricks in toilets
like so much rusted water
with little signs about yellow and mellow

but today, i too pulled out my shorts
a tribute to global warming


How can this be?  We are so warm and much of the rest of the country is frozen. They used the term "drought" for the first time this week in a long time. I expect we will hear much more of it---

copyright/all rights reserved Audrey Howitt 2014