50+ Lifestyles

A Pause for Poetry

By Gary Heath
Poet in Residence for 50+ Lifestyles.

Winter Looks to Spring Leaves

Leaves no longer whisper.
Winter cut them down to

Rot, their soft solace gone.
Through snow, ice, cold,

And harsh routine, we look
Forward to their return,

Trees leafing out in warm
Breezes, trees of leaves,

Greening shrines of life, the
Beloved vernal renewal, sky

And soil revivifying all about.
We marvel at the budding

Greenery, overjoyed to hear
Once more leaves whisper

Into our ears the gentle
Rhythms of life.

Winter Breath

It’s bitterly cold today, outside
Anyway, for sure. A real bummer
I think. I see my breath displayed
In front of me, trying to antagonize

Me in pointillist Arctic annual ordeal,
Never less painful or more anodyne.
Layered clothing insulates, just warm
Enough. Yet breath protests, puffing

Clouds of polar-bear white, winter’s
Frosty signals. Posthaste I bundle into
My car and drive to hot morning
Coffee and a warm chat with friends.

Breath no longer deploys a white, bitter
Biting Arctic cloud. Caffeine stokes my
Brain, bad white breath left behind.