Life Will Deliver

Strange, warm winds stir empty branches. 

Plastic bags trip over curbs and sidewalks.

Discarded mail pulls to free itself from a small bush.

An unclaimed newspaper, 

In its green plastic sleeve,

Sits rigid, like a scared rabbit in the grass.

Elizabeth in Malaysia 201
                       

I look up to small, tweeting, scurrying birds.  
It’s hard not to be mesmerized,

By the threatening clouds above,

Impatiently grabbing scraps of blue sky.

Mother Nature will bring Spring.

She varies the arrival, but she delivers.

She asks no permission.  

She promises no time-line.

Stones at Lake Superior

I don’t think she’s cruel.

Brentwood Tornado Damage 2017

She treats all living things equally.

Humans from flooded homes seek refuge,

Robins hide from a spring snowstorm.

She unleashes tornado-havoc without prejudice.

Sprouting snowdrop and crocus                        

Venture out before the snow melts,

Much like U of M students who wear shorts

in forty-degree weather.

Mother Nature promise change, though.

Her sunlight begins to push pass the dinner hour.

Frozen soil thaws. 

Icy lakes melt.   

                                                                                           

St. Ignace

Mom's Birch

Life promises the same.

It doesn’t ask our permission.  

One more birthday holds no guarantee.

But it will change.

Maybe one teardrop at a time,

Or a gushing flood of sorrow.

A simple, stressless day,

Suddenly blasts into a Tsunami,

Of unforeseen trauma.

A newborn held in loving arms, 

pushes through early.

A bud of love 

waits for the perfect time to sprout.

The brown and black leaves of our past remain,

on the thawing ground of our life.

They either inspire new growth,

For new experiences,

or suffocate us.

I choose to push through another season,

And take my chances. 

Bring it on, Mother Nature!

Unleash what you have, Life!