I am only a branch
I am moved by the wind
When a bird finds my perch
I am likely to bend
But I curve and I stretch
And I know, from the root
That I have what I need
To sprout leaves and bear fruit
SNOW
It is icy up here
And the night has been long
I haven’t heard cheer
Or the little bird’s song
The dark makes it colder
Oh, the shadows of night
I’m not seeing gladness
Or the little bird’s flight
How do I wish morning
Would make itself known
When eyes would peer out
From the tucked-in, hushed home
They’d see me, and smile
Oh, how bright it becomes
When the little bird sings
At the sight of the sun
Then with the warmth
And with the glow
I become water
When once I was snow
I fall from this branch
But all the way down
I’ll see the bird dance
And hear its sweet sound
AN ADVENTURE STORY
There is no such thing
As a heroic tale
That ends at the start
Without wind or sail
But one goes on a journey
That’s where draws the heart
And each step that is taken
Is of every whole, part
For there is no beginning
Where rests all the glory
It’s the begin-agains
That tell the great story
A HEALING OF HEART
In stillness, I hear my heart beating
See more clearly the wind through the trees
Watch pine needles fall, mountains stand tall,
And heavy thoughts move in to seize
It’s deliberate, this moving about
This putting things out of my mind
It’s easier that way, a chance to delay
The pain that does echo and find
I wish I could tell it, “Be gone!”
And far away it would go
Like a leaf on the stream
Floats away in sunbeam,
Or like footprints that fade in the snow
Struggles they come, but they’ll go
Once and for all they’ll depart
And I’ll find my strength,
Be renewed with each length
And all with a healing of heart
KATHI A. BURG 