To the Daffodil Growing in the Shade of the Cypress Tree and Other Poems

by Carreen Raynor

to the daffodil growing in the shade of the cypress tree:

lift up your head, dearheart—

the yellow sun, whose image

glows within you,

is warming my back at

this very moment;

he is pushing back the veil

of shadows; i believe

he will not stop until you,

too, have seen his face.

maple dryad

in six months each finger will turn

scarlet; even so, these hands spread

in blessing: ‘be born, be born, be…’

wulf

after emily dickinson

one day when your tender heart is older

and tired of the beating world,

i hope you find yourself

within a yellow meadow;

i hope you reach out your hand

to pluck a flower with a darkened

heart; i hope that when you open your fingers

you find within your grasp a tiny

thing with feathers, a tiny thing

with eyes that shine

exactly like yours do

Carreen Raynor is a California transplant now writing poetry and (occasionally) prose from the PNW. As a mother of two and an erstwhile humanities teacher, her work is reflective of the literature that forms her, the nature that surrounds her, and the motherhood that commands her. Carreen's writing has been featured by Ekstasis Magazine, The CiRCE Institute, and The Fallow House.