In the Waning

Cooler days and longer nights,

late day showers soak the lawn;

no longer parched from summer sun.

As summer passes her baton,

I wonder “Do the crickets know?”

Do they sense the subtle change

as daylight wanes and time moves on?

Their song’s as loud as first they sang

when winter’s thaw bloomed into spring—

Do they discern the shorter days,

the shift arriving on the breeze

the  autumn chill that’s in the air?

Their tune belies the changes seen

as winter creeps upon our door...

yet, one thing that I know for sure

is in the long and quiet months

we’ll long to hear their song once more

© Ginny Brannan 2019

Photo taken by Charlie Parant. Find this and more at his website Appetite for Photos. Used with expressed written permission.

The Temptation of Eve

Good and evil, dark and light

condemned from Eden, taking flight

scorned as wicked for her sin

and all the knowledge held within

Did they blame her out of spite

for good and evil, dark and light?

Temptation spoke with forked tongue

and in that moment, she succumbed.

Punished with indignity,

in pain, she birthed eternity.

Good and evil, dark and light,

her weakness seen as mankind’s blight.

Her reputation thus impugned,

mankind’s bloody, gaping wound—

and to this day, recall her plight

of good and evil, dark and light.

© Ginny Brannan 2019

Sharing at Imaginary Garden with Real Toads: The prompt stated a poem in any format, or a 55-word prose.

Image prompt by Cat Schappach, who is a marvel of dark surrealism. She has kindly given permission for us to use her piece entitled Seamstress. 

 Sharing attribution to Cat, at the following link: https://www.instagram.com/catschappach/

From the Observation Deck

9/11/2001
My husband and I worked for the same supermarket company, at that time both in the same store. I was Customer Service at the Front End of the store. His job of Security Receiver had him at the back entrance to take in the trucks and various vendors that supply the store. The radio was on in Receiving. He was one of the first to hear the news, but it was hard to take in. Surely it couldn't be true. That couldn't happen here. The ripples came through the store. Employees passing through the backroom lingered to hear some word of what was happening. We got home that afternoon, put on the TV to find the images. Surreal. We watched again and again until our hearts were so overwhelmed and so broken we could not watch anymore...

In the days directly after 9/11, our local Red Cross was swamped with calls and donations. My employer generously sent volunteer employees to assist them, paying our wages for our time with them. I was honored to be one of those employees, and spent the next 3 weeks there. The flow of generosity was overwhelming. When the chips are down, we Americans do what we do. We give what we can, then do it again. The stories that came with the donations wrenched our hearts. The head of our local Red Cross would reach out to families who had lost friends or loved ones. One such story was as finding three separate checks from three separate locations given by the same man, with the notation that he had lost his daughter in the towers. No matter who you are, you knew someone...friend, family member, family of your co-workers. No American spared.

In the days that followed 9/11, we rallied. Heartache gave way to anger, but also a newfound pride arose. We are Americans after all. When push comes to shove we won't be intimidated. We raised our flags, we stood tall, we volunteered, we give whatever we could, we gave till it hurt because our "family" was hurting. And for awhile, we became a kinder, gentler nation. We will NEVER forget the ones lost, but we would do well to remember that we are all brothers and sisters, we are all family. No matter who tries to break us, to divide us from outside or within, we are better, stronger, more resilient than they can even imagine, and our better selves will always rise again.

Pathways and Passages

Ten thousand memories in my head

upon this path that intertwines;

our early days a movie reel

of small town streets we left behind,

the neighborhood where we once played

—slip past slowly till they fade.

Others come into our lives

enhancing who we’re meant to be:

the oxygen that feeds our souls

and forms into the air we breath.

I know the earth from which you come

the warmth that nourishes your soul

how together you have grown

how the other makes you whole

So every story has its seed

and every tale must have a start

you are the sapling, he your sun

inside your journey of the heart.

By those we love, our lives defined,

    upon this path that intertwines.

© Ginny Brannan 2019

So many memories! Ever blessed by forever friends.
With love on your 42^nd Anniversary!

Rooted on the Wind

I am the sworn protector of all that I hold dear

if push should ever come to shove, I’ll still be standing here

and though you may not recognize this me that I’ve become:

I'll finish what I’ve started; I’ve only just begun.

To those who sit in judgment pretending that you care,

and all the trolls with empty souls, sent out to spread despair;

we adapt accordingly, going to great lengths

to draw upon our character and play upon our strengths.

Remember how the tiny wren sings her song so clear,

the way her notes hang in the air before they disappear?

Or how the slightest little seed can turn green into gold

when it lands on fertile ground, roots firmly taking hold?

I scatter words upon the wind into the stratosphere,

and raise my voice to amplify reminding all that I’m still here.

© Ginny Brannan 2019