Thursday, March 18, 2021

Sleigh Ride


picture via wikimedia commons: Sleigh Ride by Winslow Homer


SLEIGH RIDE

shhh
say the runners
sliding through the snow

smack
say the reigns
asking horse to go

ching ching
say the bells
on the harness and the sleigh

flap flap
say the wings
of the crows that show the way

peekaboo
say moon and clouds
thanks for coming out to play


© Mary Lee Hahn, 2021



Friday, March 12, 2021

Momentum

Momentum


When you take your foot off the gas pedal
and roll to a stop in front of your house.

When you stop pumping your legs on the swing
and enjoy the ever-shortening trips back and forth.

When you stand still on your skates and just roll
feeling every pebble and sidewalk crack under your wheels.

When you sit at your desk and stare at the ceiling
and let go of the task at hand.

When you know there is a mountain of work to be done
and you deliberately choose not to do it.

Since when did loss of momentum
become equated with some kind of failure?

Today I will reclaim loss of momentum
as a form of pleasure.

I will savor the slow down and the pull back
the drifting and the regathering of strength so I can begin again

later.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021 (draft)

Friday, March 5, 2021

Perspective

 


Perspective

All my life you've been a dipper.
Just this morning, though,
as I wondered whether you were telling me
to pour out
or scoop up
you changed into a giraffe
your long curved neck
reaching across galaxies
so you could nibble on the juicy gibbous moon.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021