Spending a Summer Day

I didn't watch the Sun arise;
I awoke as my room grew warm.
The blankets that sheltered my form,
Created a sweltering storm,
And forced open my sleep-filled eyes.

In air, treacle thick, warm and dense,
I gasped: a distressed, landed fish,
With only one desperate wish,
At once, drastic, dire, and delish:
To breathe freely in self-defense!

The terror of waking soon passed;
And oxygen-based life commenced.
As time was a-wasting, I sensed
It's measure becoming condensed,
And urgency moved me, at last.

I asked me: "What should I do
With today's teaspoon of time?"
Should I spend it seeking a rhyme
Or two, despite knowing that I'm
Old, and my "sell-by" date grows due?

The summer air whispered me true:
That sharing is love (as I guessed),
And time spent in writing is blessed.
So I cast about for a guest,
And shared my precious time with you.

Mick McKellar
June 2020

Time can't really be saved. It can only be spent wisely or wasted.  Thanks for helping me spend some precious time wisely.

Mick

A Simple Prayer

Watch o'er this heart of mine,
When night negates the day.
Let happy smiles define,
Those touched along my way.

Let empathy stay wrath,
Within my passing wake,
And may my wand’ring path,
Grant love for living’s sake.

And please, show those who hate,
The emptiness it brings.
I pray it’s not too late,
To pray for all these things.

Please let my dreams tonight,
Though filled with fantasy,
Be welcome in your sight,
And set my spirit free.

Mick McKellar
June 2020

I thought: What would a simple man pray for in these dark days?

Mick

Ever Green

Shadows wander around my heart,
and the air, heavy with Spring,
presses hard upon hope for Summer's blessings.
And yet, the setting sun's tail
laps across the lake,
to brush the shore,
caressing chilled feet
on lake-soaked sand,
and frigid fingers,
damp from cloud tears
upon life newly awakened. 
I taste again the chill bite
of Superior's breath,
as her whispers sigh
among the pine, the fir, and the tamarack.
A peace disturbed only by ravenous pest,
a-wing and thirsty for blood and sapiens flesh.

A memory?
Yes...and fond despite winged banquet guests.
An echo wrought from tattered remnants,
recent and remote.
A reveille arising
to sue for peace of soul and spirit,
ravaged and left raw,
among the scattered images
of human inhumanity to fellow travelers
on this tiny speck of blue among the stars.

I stand:
My feet awash with earth and sea,
my hands among life ever green
and touched by sky-borne dew,
my face aglow with sun and breeze,
and enraptured by the song of life,
my eyes filled with the glory of creation,
the world, the universe, and God.
I feel the oneness of us all.

Loss of one is loss to all;
None too large and none too small.
The light of life, come night or day,
We have no right to steal away.
Despite the lies the haters preach,
The light inside is same for each:
Equality, felt, heard, and seen,
Makes love among us ever green.

Mick McKellar
June 2020

A love song to life and understanding.

Mick