By Linda Boyden ©2015
Listen to the silence of the great
trees.
Birds shelter among branches
heads tucked beneath wings,
feathers preened.
Underground, the earth vibrates
with hungering roots
the trembling hearts of rabbits
the shuddering dreams of moles.
Above, clouds scatter and collect,
reflect muted colors
as the sun seeps along the horizon,
and stars parade to center stage.
Time to go though there’s
something
about this place that urges me to
stay;
something that makes me want to whisper.
Breakfast
By Linda Boyden ©2015
Your toast is burnt
the
way you like;
coffee strong
as
I demand.
Cream drenches mine, sinful sweet.
Yours stays blacker than
the argument
our account depleted again
when you found a deal,
“Golf clubs, half-price, a
steal!”
At breakfast,
the argument slides
into shadow.
You linger
at the counter
watching me
watching
the toaster.
It’s the peanut butter we share
our one agreement,
other than how the curves of me
find
home
within
the angles of you.
All the rest,
our differences,
are melodies played in a minor key
You cup my face;
dare me to lick peanut butter
from your thumb.
Finding Home
By Linda Boyden ©2015
If you have a true heart,
you know how to listen.
You understand the
negative space of silence;
how words linger near our hearts,
how stories dwell within our ears.
If you have a true heart,
you are a friend for life;
who will listen and laugh
or smack you upside the head
from time to time.
If you have a true heart, you
will
catch the unspoken need
within the words
and be there
with him
beside
her
hold a hand
jump-start
a battery
let supper grow cold
pace
lonely hospital halls
because you know,
you remember
what the elders taught us:
We are here to help each other find
home.
About The Author: Linda Boyden has loved words all of her life. After teaching for
a long while, her husband’s work took them to Maui, Hawai’i where she stopped
teaching and started to get her stories published. Her titles are “The Blue Roses,” (Lee and Low Books, 2002), “Powwow’s Coming,” and “Giveaways an ABC of
Loanwords from the Americas,” (University of New Mexico Press, 2007, 2010), and
”Boy and Poi Poi Puppy,” (Progressive Rising Phoenix Press, 2013). “RoxyReindeer” is the fourth book she has written and illustrated. Besides picture
books Linda has had poems published in many journals and belongs to the Society
of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers
and Storytellers, and Writers Forum of Redding CA. www.lindaboyden.com
