what i don’t want you to know

October 31, 2016October 31, 2016 / Apple Hill Cottage / 11 Comments

i could live without people,
a hermit on a lonely mountain
foraging in fields singing back to the birds
and whispering to the spiders spinning,
spilling hummingbird words that only i
have heard.

i could be that crazy old lady in the falling-down house,
feeding ten feral cats
yelling at the children to scat from my yard,
but breathing sweet nothings to the riotous
fuchsia azaleas blooming in the hidden
garden.

i could be the wild-haired recluse in the book-filled garret,
smelling of old books and parchment
overflowing and piled high,
never leaving the house until all the heaps of paper are
crammed full of strands of words and the pens
run dry.

Shoes of Fear

October 20, 2016October 25, 2016 / Apple Hill Cottage / Leave a comment

The cottage on Apple Hill Road was getting a new roof.

the roof only leaks when it rains….

Ladders leaned against every side safely tied off
by the safety supervisor.

I bend to untie knotted shoestrings of fear that
keep me tethered to solid ground.

I boldly step barefoot onto the rung. Fear is banished,
no longer in command.

I will walk the slope of the roof, stand at the peak
in glorious freedom and joy.

From there I will leap to the dark swaying branches
of the oak that sweeps to the sky.

swiftly swiftly now climbing enveloped in the sheltering radiance
of sun drenched leaves and waving ripples of wind and blue,
tendril arms reach to dark limbs, feet find footholds and crevices
that only eagles have known.
toes curl around the top branches outstretched arms grow feathers
head thrown back in victory mouth gulping the liquid drops of air
the sun rays are heat and flames scorching my face
and i dare not look down.

this breadth of view this heaven of angels, of muses, of clarity;
Do Not Fear the angels say each time they meet a mortal.
They know we fear their wings their otherness
their instructions
of impossibility.
but each time we unstrap those shoes of fear (no matter how stylish the heel or brilliantly cunning the color)
and run barefoot on the shards of a cracked life,
God shouts with joy, the angels cheer
and the beast retreats into the ground.

Ordinary Magic

September 24, 2016September 24, 2016 / Apple Hill Cottage / 10 Comments


Magic                         Magic                         Magic
bedazzles                     enchants                      embraces
the                           the                           the
still                         still                         still
life                          life                          life
only if                       only if                       only if
our                           our                           our
eyes                          ears                          hands
are                           are                           are
open                          attuned                       free
to                            to                            to
see.                          hear.                         hold.

If our                        If our                        If our
eyes                          ears                          hands
are                           are                           are
closed                        plugged                       filled
to the                        with the                      with the
colors                        sounds                        stuff
that                          of                            we
surround                      our                           cling
us                            own                           to
there                         choosing                      there
are                           we                            is
no                            miss the                      no
magic                         magic                         magic
prisms                        of                            touch in
reflected                     someone                       finding
on our                        else's                        real
souls.                        song.                         gold.