Cast in Bronze

Afternoon storms

having opened their black velvet pouches

and thrown down their burden of diamonds

often give way to evenings of magnificent bronze

Come out and see the hibiscus brazing

pigeon necklaces burnished with maize

brass bells tinkling off glittering leaves

yellow sequined arches in the village square

Newborn bees share our view through topaz honey

hive’s hum a kazoo, dripping raindrops a xylophone

amber windows everywhere

Rocks and roads and trees all trimmed in tortoiseshell

are strewn with chestnuts and chrysoberyl

Citrine evening with soap bubbles in the air

mist of bronze others see as not there

freckles on thrush, blush on the pear

This evening’s warm respite of joy

is made brief by the longitudinal shadow

The setting sun tugs a golden shade tassel

As the grey-mauve evening descends

Like well-oiled athletes, golden hills flex their muscles

A single robin’s silver flute calls the universe to order

Silver Bow Publishing 2013 Anthology.

All Wild

                        …after “Wildflowers of Metulla”
                            by Artist Helen Bar Lev, Israel

Though many love the topiary, boxwood,

I prefer a garden long overgrown

and spread into the wild,

wild interbreeding to reclaim ancestral ties

open pollinating freely

unconcerned with who is better

wind laying all down equally

rain drunk by all equally

verdant and effusive

floribundant and intrusive

hills all willy-nilly silly frilly

with montage-collage portages

orange lilies poking up through burgundy rhubarb

blue flax and michaelmas by wild goldenrod

for "there is no blue without the yellow”

michaelmas not blue nor purple nor mauve nor pewter

pincushions not lemon or lime but hued over time

milkweed and thistles

fluffing wildly like bubble machines

aromas of leaf mold, sweet earth and wild orchids

textures heaped up like thrift store clearance

colors not edited by more ‘educated’ eyes

burden of fleas and chiggers and bees and flies

candied nectar leaking from necks

thick alkaline poison protects

the soft and stiff and harsh and hardy

climbing all over each other in gorgeous orgy

oblivious, intertwined, without prejudice

strolled through, it and its creator

all wild

all mine

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© Copyright, 2015, Ruth Hill.
All Rights Reserved.