Karen Elizabeth Sharpe Verse-Virtual 2016 February

February 2016

Karen Elizabeth Sharpe
ksharpe36@yahoo.com

I live in Central Massachusetts with my husband and our animal family on an old farm. I am an AVP at a local college, raising money for scholarships for deserving students at a state university, most of whom wouldn't have the chance for higher education otherwise. I spend the rest of my time with beloved family and friends, and in my garden and exploring the wild outdoors. My poems have been published in Columbia Journal of Art & Literature: Catch and Release; The Comstock Review; Yankee Magazine (back in the day) and other journals. karensharpe.org

The Old Dog Speaks

Each day you leave me. I have come
To expect it and do not suffer. By now
We wear each other like an old pair of slippers
And besides, I am tired. For 11 years
I have held my tongue, except when
The crows get raucous in the field out back
Yet now, I must tell you: There is nothing
To be afraid of. When I close my eyes
After you are gone, when my bones click
Into place, the field is all around me
Alight with daisies and purple clover
Full of bees. Each day you leave me
I see it more clearly, the jays and sparrows
In the brush, the gold of the sunlight
Going on forever. Listen, I have been
The bowl you empty your sorrows in
The warm fire of forgiveness to your rage
I have seen your shadows and your stars
And I am still here. At the moment
When you pass from that life to this
When the key turns in the door
When your heart leaps to life
Or forgets to even care
I have already given you mine.

A Mother Weeps

Only when the door has been closed
The candle snuffed
The thread of smoke
Drawn to the sky
When the seedling under the love
Of too much water dies
When the last glass
Is rinsed and dried
When the worry of twilight
Tarnishes the day
When the old familiar
Bathrobe of quiet settles in
Does it begin.
Think of how the heavy rain falls
Reckless and wild
Sputtering through the treeline
Splattering the rooftops
Soaking the pavement
Throwing itself down to the earth
As if without end.