The Academy of Sky
Sliced into small squares
by the crossroad lines
of the window sashes,
the sky's deep blue
hue of possibility
has faded
like a favorite denim shirt
left flapping too long
on the line in summer heat.
No promise of rain overcasts
the morning; instead, smoke
carried north on winds that know
no borders, hold no passports.
In Guatemala and Mexico,
shoulder to shoulder, villagers
and farmers fight wildfires
that swallow fields whole,
lick toward towns.
Step outside; breathe deeply
of that other world, the dying
fields of falling ash, delorous,
foreign. A week passes --
Awaken to clear skies framed
by familiar paned divisions.
Yet, something has changed --
the sky is larger than before;
the window doesn't hold it anymore.
Invitation to Passersby
Lie down in summer-scented grasses,
one ear pressed to the ground. Listen
for the faint rattle, the distant clattering
of bones, restless under the loam.
Climb the tallest tree you see,
a ladder to the sky. Hear leafy
melodies played by winds
that caress all without judgement,
Breezes that sing as the earth hungers
for bones, the sky for smoke, knowing
everything is rain in a basket, shaped
for time, but only passing through.
Clan of the Dreamers
The gift of dream-wisdom descends
through the women of my clan
and was passed to me from my mother.
Now I teach you of the night-secrets.
When questions stir your sleep,
I take you from the firelight
into the wooded darkness
that you may learn to see truly.
Of what does the white-tailed rabbit dream?
Fields of red clover at sunset, my child.
But remember, the owl dreams, too,
of rabbits in fields of red clover.
Of what dreams the many-colored trout?
Clear streams for the spawning. Yet,
the bear also dreams of clear streams
filled with the rainbow colors of trout.
Of what do you dream, Mother?
I dream the searing sun
swallowing the lowland mists
of dreams.
Glenda Cooper's poems have appeared in several print publications, including Mobius, Baker Street Irregular, and Anthology 2000 from Professional Touch Press. Online, during January of this year, she was the featured poet in Compuserve Poetry Forum's Gallery.
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