(Sunrise at Lake Ontario Park, March 10, 2022)
These Lengthening Days
As children shelter in subway stations,
others flee across borders,
and a miasma of fear wraps around the Earth,
these lengthening days
gather momentum
to equilibrate
the balance
of light and dark.
Earlier this month, in an email exchange with a friend who is a poet, I said that I hoped she was enjoying "these lengthening days." She suggested I use that phrase as a writing prompt for a poem. It was near the beginning of the Russian assault on Ukraine, just after Putin threatened to use nuclear weapons. On the day that I wrote this, I was feeling overwhelmed with the world news. But as I stepped outside on the back deck, the bird song was lively. As I stopped to watch the birds at the back yard feeders, my shoulders dropped. I was reminded that the natural world goes on, even as we humans engage in our destructive, deadly actions.
Another poet friend encouraged me to share the poem, despite my "imposter syndrome" that "I'm not a real poet." She said, "I want to assure you that there's no such thing as a "real poet." If you write, you're a writer. If you make art, you're an artist. If you paint, you're a painter. And if you write poems, you're a poet. It's as simple as that."
So, here is my poem. May you find comfort and hope, as I have, in nature and "these lengthening days." And if you haven't already, may you find your own inner poet, artist, or writer!
With gratitude for the encouragement and support of my poet friends!