Friday, July 30, 2021

Don’t Just Stand There, Open Your Umbrella



Don’t Just Stand There, Open Your Umbrella

Before me in the east,
wrapped in a billowing headdress,
sun peeks.

Without turning, I can hear
grumbles of unrest,
while before me in the east,

with a well-practiced technique,
coyly half-dressed,
sun peeks

at the growling purple beast
storming in from the west.
Before me in the east

she begins to disappear
behind clouds that fume and crest.
Sun peeks

one last time. Then the storm releases
all the rage it had suppressed.
Before me in the east,
sun no longer peeks.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021





Friday, July 9, 2021

Good Morning

image via Unsplash

Good Morning

after Good Night by Carl Sandburg

Many ways to spell good morning.

Redwing blackbird at the top of the larch
          spells it with red epaulettes and spread wings.
He shouts the wetland awake; mallard and frog join in.
Bees make a lazy trajectory of gold-and-black
          between purple cone flowers.

Meadow at dawn spells with a misty quilt
          lifted by sun’s fingers.

Kitchens are a chorus of kettle whistles,
          cutlery clatters, mug thumps, bacon sizzles.

It is easy to spell good morning.
          Many ways to spell good morning.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021


Friday, July 2, 2021

There's a Village for Sale in Scotland




There’s a Village for Sale in Scotland

There’s a village for sale in Scotland.
Only $173,000 and that includes mossy ruins
and a beach on the loch.

In Scotland, thunderclouds won’t stall overhead
dumping inches of rain at a time, flooding the yard.

In Scotland, the yard waste is always picked up on time
and the neighbors don’t build smoky fires with wet wood.

In Scotland, Democracy is not failing,
racism is not systemic, and police are always helpful.

Though there’s a village for sale in Scotland
I’m not buying it.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021