Autumn Longings and Other Poems
by Courtney Siebring
AUTUMN LONGINGS
I awoke with autumn longings.
Yesterday’s sunburn
still tight between my shoulder blades,
garden soil stubbornly seated
beneath my fingernails.
The thought of turning leaves
blew in unexpectedly,
through the open bedroom window
on the sound of crickets
and children riding bikes up our street
past their bedtimes.
These things:
the sunburn, the soil,
the chirping children,
and the sand that covers our kitchen floor
- so much so we no longer notice the crumbs -
These things
pin me to the calendar with gratitude.
But, this cool wind nostalgia,
hovers in my periphery,
distracts from summer’s heat;
its sweet departure from routine.
I vaguely remember winter laments,
the deeply exhausted and soggy sighs of spring.
If I squint, I can see myself,
knees to chest,
head bowed as if in prayer,
huddled somewhere between Christmas and Easter,
a ball silhouetted against a grey backdrop.
I awoke with autumn longings,
my body tied to the seasons
even against my will.
GALE FORCE WIND
A gale force wind
can take out a power line,
wrestle it to the ground
and leave three postal codes
in the dark.
We will light candles understandingly.
But, if she enters a room
mid-song
voice raised above polite conversation,
we snap our heads in her direction
lowering our brow,
librarian gaze.
There is no understanding.
That she is a gale force wind.
Open the windows for her,
she wasn’t created to come through
the front door.
If you are lucky,
she will knock out the power
in your neighborhood,
affording you a glimpse
of that which can only been seen
by candlelight.
DANDELION
A merciful wind dispersed my seed
late last night as you slept.
Air currents’ corruption, a silent eruption
changed my landscape perennially.
Bend down, though I am not a rose,
and peer deeply into me.
So closely that the meaning of my name
fades into a song.
Notes so deafening,
they drown out my past,
Notes soft enough to draw
a new me forth.
Peer into me.
Edge near enough that I blur into focus,
that weed becomes flower
and dust becomes star.
See me explode in a death so brilliant
that I come to life again
and again
and again.
Courney Siebring
Courtney Siebring is a creative artist currently living in Colorado Springs, CO, with her husband and daughter. Her devotion to Christ, background in theatre, current work as a voiceover artist, and longtime practice of writing poetry informs the way she sees and interacts with the world. She has recently written a children's book, Little Spark of Life, fueled by her passion for the unborn and their mamas as well as her experience as a foster and adoptive parent. She is interested in the theology of making.
You can find Courtney on Instagram @siebring_creative and www.siebringcreative.com.