Leap Not

For all those people with a birthday on February 29th: 

                    Happy Birthday anyway.

Maybe you’re lucky, you can always honestly say you’re younger than you are. Maybe not so lucky with no real birth date of February 29 for years to celebrate or get gifts.

Sure, I bet you celebrate on the 27th or 28th, maybe after March 1st. But is it really the same?

So every four years I think you deserve to have an over-the-top birthday celebration to make up for the previous three years. Tell your family and friends you expect this. Start preparing now for February 29th, 2020!

Here’s to you, February 29th birthers! You’re just as special as the rest of us!    Theresa M

         Leap Year

Twenty-nine the second month has

Every four years, so many says--

Why call it a leap year

‘stead of leap month?

Perhaps the extra day 

was meant to be a month!

If we were to leap to next year

From a leap month away from here,

Wouldn’t this day be the same

whichever way:

A year in the life of a month with an extra day?

                                            Theresa M 😊

Glistening Trees

Glistening shields cover the old trees -

 the strain too great to bear.

Branches were strong that held many a spring

 of nests and birds - of beauty-

 they stood against storms.

Now they give way to the weight of ice

 that visited last night without invitation.

Crackling, crashing heard all around

 taking down lines of power too-

Leaving the people in darkness - in fear -

 no escape yet from this ice prison.

They wrap themselves in blankets

 for warmth to watch in horror

 as part of nature breaks apart.

Crash!  Another old tree has fallen -

 split right down its mid-line.

Agony it feels and other trees weep -

 drops of water plunk down from ice.

Maybe ice is weeping for the trees -

 maybe Mother Nature

 is weeping for her trees

And perhaps even for humanity

 who usually tries to prove itself

 more powerful than her.

Will we ever understand?

Yet trees continue to weep.

Theresa M


plus.........

                Remains

Here remains splintered wood

  of cherished old time

  pieces of past - chopped up fine.

Here remains the shreds of its own kin -

  words of lost delight and sin.

There remains little else to notice

  of a life led out of the forest

There remains a smell of oak or pine

  that somehow once held

  my writings - mine.

Here remains a mystery -

What led this great tree to me?

Theresa M

Circle of Light

Circle of Light surrounds my house

  at night

I see the full moon

  so bright

A ring expands with a zillion icicles

of frozen brilliance illuminating

  the sky

to hover over my home

bringing me the comfort -

the sense of protection

  of a higher power

watching over, embracing

  my life.

A sense of safety warms my soul

and a sense of newness fills my spirit

Hope enters my heart

as the circle of light

  illumines its pathways -

  the doorways open

  and deeper understanding

  is unleashed.

Now I may cross the boundaries

from knowledge to wisdom

Now I am elevated to the heights

  of love and understanding.

Now I am one with the Circle of Light.

Theresa M

Naked Trees

See distant hills awash in gray
with naked branches
reaching for warmth.
They could almost pull down the clouds,
but they only manage
  to shred the fog -
a masquerade of forbidden visage.

Oh, shelter - leaves of green so warm -
protects us now from cold winter’s harm.
Bring back the birds that sing and shrill
to keep life on these branches,
on these hills.

The naked trees reach out in prayers
up to the open skies
  of starlit airs.
In time the answers come to them.
Some will have to snap and end;
others will encounter spring,
When leaves will clothe
  the naked trees -
as life comes back again.

Theresa M