Spring (Finally)

This poem lay dormant for months, seeded in the waning days of autumn, when I wrote Anthem.  Finally, spring is here with "A shout of triumph / An anthem of joy." Tight, verdant buds dot the naked limbs laid bare in winter, and a chartreuse film covers the ground greened in new grass raised from … Continue reading Spring (Finally)

Holy Week: Hope and Resurrection

How does the hard and frigid soil, packed from winter's brutal toil, think that spring will ever show-- unfurl above, thread below? What tiny hope stirs in the deep to resurrection's vigil keep? What life beneath is waiting there-- renewal's meat, drink, and air? It's Adam's dust, from Adam shaken, soil to flesh, the flesh … Continue reading Holy Week: Hope and Resurrection

Holy Week: Perfect Love

XV. What cracks the husk so that hope pushes its green head up to the light, and frail threads wend downward to mine the rich dark decay of yesterday's life? K. Ashby Previously: Holy Week: Nature Tells the Truth

Holy Week: Nature Tells The Truth

Maybe you've shoveled compost into your garden beds, mixing the dark organic matter that some gardeners call "black gold" into your native soil. Or, maybe you've walked into the woods and inhaled the moist, verdant fragrance of humus, that soft, springy top layer of the forest floor. What does that fresh, earthy fragrance have in … Continue reading Holy Week: Nature Tells The Truth

Next Year’s Fruit

VII. No, leave that one on the ground. Don’t be fooled by the ruddy lustre captivating your tongue’s imagination. It looks like a crisp bite, a mouthful of firm flesh and sweet juice. Turn it over. See where the taut skin thinned, failed open to marauders. Leave it. Let it nourish next year’s fruit. K. … Continue reading Next Year’s Fruit