Posted on by catherinelucyrowland

The War Before Springtide

I want to feel alive;

to feel Mother Nature’s

Heart beating in mine

I want time to stop.

I want to hear the sound

Of a bird’s serenade

But all I hear is the click

Of a soldier’s grenade

I want to see branches

Dancing in a cloudless sky

But all I see is military troops

And their missile strikes

I ask myself why the world

Chooses war instead of peace;

A futile commitment

to a heartless regime

I want a song of silence

To engulf us like a wave

I want Mother Nature to

wrap us in her arms and say

That when there are no more

Angels left in heaven

The branches will extend and assume

Their final prayer position

And when there are no more

Earthly wounds left to tend

We’ll gather and wait

For the war before springtide to end

Posted on by catherinelucyrowland · 1 Comment

Eucalyptus/Family tree

In the car’s back seat

I crane my eyes up at 

the Eucalyptus 

of Louisville street 

and imagine my parents

sowing a copper-coloured seed,

hopeful and expectant,

as if throwing a coin 

into a wishing well

I called it our “family tree”

and outgrew each ashen branch,

until one day they severed the bark

and I smeared my grief 

in the blood of its silver leaves

Even now, as the years have passed, 

the Eucalyptus remains 

rooted in my mind:

our family’s sacred offering 

to the passage of time.

Posted on by catherinelucyrowland

A Rainbow Flash in Monochrome

Part one: The White Collar Parade 

The smell of money on them

More pungent than liquor

Their suits, creaseless

Neatly folded like bank notes

from a robbery

An army of uniforms;

The white collar parade

Filtering in and out of

the cobbled chaos

I try to dodge them all

Bullet through the air

Without a care

A rainbow flash

In monochrome

~

Part two: The City that Coughs You up and Spits You out 

Each day, I pass the homeless man by

Just one of many

In the city that coughs you up

And spits you out

Little does he know

I’ll be leaving this place for good

Packed up and fed up,

Dragging my career behind me

We exchanged a glance

But no words

His sky blue eyes looked up at mine;

Pained and questioning

I walked on, like I always do

Wondering who was feeling more sorry for who

Posted on by catherinelucyrowland

The Hospital Room

Time ticks;

A fragile and volatile bomb

You count the seconds pass

And wonder where they’ve gone

Meanwhile the distant and burning

Stars of outer space

Explode

Into particles of golden dust

Giving human life their trace

Stretched over a vast landscape

Of cells and membranes

The pain of birth contained you

Curled up in utero

But you broke forth too soon

Pale and premature

Watched by the expectant eyes

Of the hospital room

A small and tangled up

Bloodied ball of flesh

Craved the comfort

of womb and breast

Covering with baby hands

Its own eyes from the light

Sleep-full and yearning

To fight for its life