Back with a Spate of Poems

It has been a long time since I have written here. I have a wealth of excuses, ranging from too many things to do to my husband going through a serious illness. But, they are all excuses. Suffice it to say that poetry still lives within me and fights to get out when I ignore it. For my first posting in months, here are a series of poems written in response to morning meditations based on excerpts from "Religions of the World and Ecology," published by Harvard University Press. The excerpts were compiled by Peggy Nash Rubin, extraordinary teacher/actor/human and part of Jean Houston's Mystery School. Thanks also to Elizabeth Austin, mentor and friend, for leading the meditations each day.

I
On the airwaves
Sunday pundits field accusations from both sides
Caught up in the drama
I feel my stomach clench
Then I step outside,
Watch a bee plumb the depts of an early blossom.
Even in the small space of my yard
Sun illumines truth beyond rebuttal
And I reconnect with peace.


II
Everyday
To sustain our lives
We choose what else must die...
It is fact.

Everyday
To advance our wellbeing
We bend nature to our will
In the act.

My prayer
Is that I take only as I need
And that my choices hold respect
For all I alter.

III
Outside three birch trees stand aligned.
Every year I watch as two burst into green.
Every year I fear the third will fail to flourish.

Then, slowly,
Tips on bowing limbs begin to green
Reminding me
Each living thing knows its season
Showing me
There is no such thing as too early
Or too late.

These are lessons I want to embrace.
Copyright © 2010 Mary Beth Watt. All rights reserved.

Enough for now. I will publish others on an ongoing basis. I promise not to be "away" so long again.