Breastfeeding

Today a cardinal blazes by

Lands at the table feeder;

begins to eat most happily

I never knew I loved the birds

Until the birds

Were all that were

Left to see

I never knew how much I’d miss

Raising children

until my sons

were grown and gone

I never knew how much I’d miss

The games they played

The songs they sang

The way they called me mom

I remember the chores

The laundry, the exhaustion, the squabbles

The constant feedings

I never knew how much I loved

Their hungry mouths feeding

nestled like precious gems

against my beating heart

Fire Dreams

I want to be gasoline

poured onto a flame

to ignite a furious fire

burn out of control

flicker radiantly

blue purple gold

be like Phoenix

build my own pyre; 

clap my wings

start my own fire; rise anew

to right all wrongs;

to become brand new

Renewed

gray river softly  

sighs below somber skies, a

silent symphony

baptizes me with

cool tears–slipping beneath its

strong currents–renewed