I am sooooooo excited and honored to have my dear blogging friend, dragonfly-whisperer/photographer, and fellow believer, Mike Powell, recite my latest poem! This is a very special poem to me and to have a special-to-me person recite it makes me a bit teary… Thank you, Mike! Please do pay Mike a visit to enjoy his nature stories and photos at Mike Powell: My Journey Through Photography here on WordPress. 

Sprouted from past tears
that saturated the buried
teeth of lions,
lies that rotted,

but underground,
those roots reached
blindly for a dream
in the suffocating darkness,
light faith-felt
not yet seen;

we forged through
lifetimes of winter
determined we too
deserved to find
in our hearts that
spring,

strained to hear
the birds sing,
to inch upward
when strength allowed,

recovering each time
any lost ground
from sinking,
from pressures
above

that could only
hold us down
for so long,

could only
depress us
so many inches
as we gripped
the dirt
and resisted.

I think it was
the feeling
that you were 
near,

reaching yourself
for something unclear,

but both of us
persisted
in breaking
earth

to breathe 
the air
of any season,

to feel
on our faces
the warmth;

finally
our time came,
double golden-crowned
and kissed goodbye
by Fate,

released
to freedom
on the same day,

never knowing
if our parallels
brought us
side by side,

but the sight
of you
upon my eyes
was no chance
but the gift
of a Gardener
divine.

Survivors
continuing 
a shared story,

memories 
of the season
before
eternal winter
return as familiar 

as the stars.

We will live
until we together
embrace
the next season,
and when our stems break
and we are but seeds 
again 
in the breeze,
my darling, 
this time,
we will not 
be separated
by anyone or
anything. 

Poem and images ©LauraDenise