Verse – “The Kite Flew All Night”
If the wind is steady–
on these plains it often
is– and if the dacron
line has not been eaten
by those grey and tiny
field mice that slip into
my small storage shed, and
if the stake is driven
firmly in the ground, and
if the rip-stop nylon
like a parachute can
hold, and if the fiber-
glass rods bend but do not
break, the sky has color
added and our hearts can
also fly.
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, October 20, 2013
Twilight on the Plains
Three things up above tonight,
No, four: last, a star, (the kite
First reached altitude), a hot
Air balloon was second, third,
Bright against the dark-turned
Sky–precisely half a moon.
Matches lit the hurricane
Lantern and a pipe beside
Rocking chair, plants, on side
Porch. Horizon towns show light
After light: gold, yellow, white.
Flashing red antennas point…
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, September 21, 2003.
Join Steve for an evening of poetry on the theme “Becoming Free: Go Fly a Kite” Tuesday, October 1 at 7:00 p.m. Steve’s visit is part of the Shepherd of the Hill Presbyterian Church’s Tuesday Dialogues Program: examining critical public issues locally and globally. Steve will look at emancipation – both social and personal – in advance of a major celebration of the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Declaration here in Chaska, MN on Saturday, October 26 at Chaska High School.
green storm clouds – Kay Stewart photography
Tonight the storm blew in
Darkness covering the deep.
Green-sky funnel clouds
threatening everything that is
…
passed over, passed over
blew on past
while beauty rarely seen swept in
as morning follows night.
…
yellow puffs of mercy,
puffs of wonder,
yellow cotton-candy light
puffed across the sky
…
pushed by first-light breeze
that cooled the skin
refreshed the air and
took my breath away!
– Gordon C. Stewart, Mother’s Day, 2004
Yellow cotton-candy clouds – Kay Stewart Photography
Views from the Edge 