What if Valentine’s Day was a way to renew what you feel instead of declare it?
Daring
By Michelle Garren Flye
Fold up your petals
Don’t dare to emerge
On this not-even-just-spring-day
You’ll win no medals
In the pre-spring surge
Sp don’t dare rush along the way
But maybe the one who meddles
And pushes life to the verge
Daring to jump ahead of the fray
Will be the one who gentles
That which would otherwise scourge
Maybe Love’s daring will keep us safe.
I haven’t put anything up here in a while, but I’m hard at work. I’ve been writing, poetry mainly, but the second comic book is starting to take shape. Rekka and Kat will be back. You’ll find out a bit more about them in the second issue. My poetry is getting better, I think. I can’t always share it because I’m entering poetry contests and the rules say “no previously published work” in most of those. My blog counts as “previously published”, I guess (rolls eyes), so I can’t share stuff I want to enter into contests here. Which severely limits me for both!
I wrote this one the other day and decided I’d rather put it on here than enter it into a contest. I don’t know why. It just seemed right somehow. Maybe something is telling me there’s someone out there who needs to hear it right now.
We’re in the middle of autumn here in Eastern North Carolina. What does that mean? Beautiful trees and fire in the fireplace at night?
Hell no.
Most of our trees are evergreens, I think. We have a very few deciduous trees mixed in. But there are a few. And you catch glimpses of other color here and there. Temps are still averaging around 80 degrees although we’re no longer sitting on the Devil’s front porch (upper 90s). Still, there is beauty, and after living here for sixteen years, I’ve figured out how to find it.
Atypical Autumn
By Michelle Garren Flye
A fall like no other
With colors streaming
Like wild things at a party
Look there and there
Crimson poison ivy scales
The evergreen’s bark
And the pink magnolia seed
Gathers a fuzzy coat
Before it erupts to scatter
Scarlet hearts to unsuspecting birds
Spring and summer linger
In lemonade lantana
And late roses
If tradition is what you seek
Look to the dogwood
As its leaves brighten and fade
Chrysanthemums will blaze
And you might find a maple or two
But don’t expect too much
Atypical autumns don’t behave
The way you want them to
You have to adjust yourself
To see the beauty that’s there
And not wish for what
This season cannot be.
And with all that said, I should also add that I have recently completed edits on my graphic novel. Yeah, I know, that was fast! It feels weird that it went so fast. I think that’s the way things are when you’re driven to finish. Being completely self-published, I don’t have actual “deadlines”. Once I wrote this story, though, I knew I wanted to share it and my vision of it. Being able to do that in a visual way was very exciting to me. I’ve never been able to do that before except with my poetography. 😉 So, I’ll go ahead and announce that the kindle version of my graphic novel Hourglass is for pre-sale now on Amazon. The print version may take a little longer, and I definitely think it will be worth waiting for. I mean, who wants to read a comic book on their phone, right?
Photo by Michelle Garren Flye
Now That I Am In Mid-Fall
By Michelle Garren Flye
Fall has been glorious to date.
Full of lovely color and warm days.
Breezy enough to invigorate,
With sun highlighting forest byways.
Now that I am in mid-Fall—it seems corny—
But I might like it better than Summer.
Summer was too hot, too bright, too stormy.
Full of buggy, muggy days without number.
But oh, yes, there were good times, too.
Days by the pool, lazing out in the heat,
Then slipping into the water just to cool.
Laughter, picnics, and flowers by my feet.
Yes, Summer could make you a believer,
But now that I am in mid-Fall, I think
I enjoy the mellow more than the fever—
And on the vine, I still see roses growing.
Some say Spring is best with days warming—
Greening, blooming bursts in urban sprawl.
But Spring is needy, showy, always wanting.
I see that clearly now that I am in mid-Fall.
Now that I am in mid-Fall with dry, brown leaves
Crunch, crunch, crunching beneath my feet,
Like worn out, torn up, decaying past years,
And I laugh at the roses blooming as a treat.
I wonder if I might not like Winter even better?
When I’ve swept the leaves away and all is clear,
Fire at the hearth, chores done, no longer a quester—
Now that I am in mid-Fall, and Winter draws near.
It might not be too bad, I think, sipping cocoa,
Blanketed in Love, settled in a rocking chair.
Maybe roses bloom in Winter sometimes, too?
Now that I am in mid-Fall—falling toward Winter.
Photo by Michelle Garren Flye
BREATHE: Michelle Garren-Flye 