At the Gates of Dawn / George J. Dance

At the Gates of Dawn

(a cento)

Night prowls, scratches sand, & then pads on,
the gnomes are sleeping in their gnomish homes,
when darkness is increased by 1, to 7
& from the icy waters underground

a scarlet eagle rises, shining gold
on all. Floating down, the light resounds
blindingly – flap flicker flicker / Blam pow pow –

& all the land is lime & limpid green.
Amidst the grass, dandelions thrive.
Buttercups cup the light in the foggy dew.

Change, return, success, going & coming,
nothing can be destroyed once & for all:
Look at the sun, look at the sky, look at the river
lazily winding, finding its way to sea.

~~
George J. Dance, 2007
from Doggerel, and other doggerel, 2015

[All rights reserved - used with permission]

Lies through a Lens, A Pink Sunrise Disturbs the Quiet of the Blue Hour, Wareham UK, 2015.

CC BY, 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

George J. Dance biography

Also read: A Midwinter Night's Eve

In August / Katharine Lee Bates

In August

Beside the country road with truant grace
Wild carrot lifts its circles of white lace.
From vines whose interwoven branches drape
The old stone walls, come pungent scents of grape.
The sumach torches burn; the hardhack glows;
From off the pines a healing fragrance blows;
The pallid Indian pipe of ghostly kin
Listens in vain for stealthy moccasin.
In pensive mood a faded robin sings;
A butterfly with dusky, gold-flecked wings
Holds court for plumy dandelion seed
And thistledown, on throne of fireweed.
The road goes loitering on, till it hath missed
Its way in goldenrod, to keep a tryst,
Beyond the mosses and the ferns that veil
The last faint lines of its forgotten trail,
With Lonely Lake, so crystal clear that one
May see its bottom sparkling in the sun
With many-colored stones. The only stir
On its green banks is of the kingfisher
Dipping for prey, but oft, these haunted nights,
That mirror shivers into dazzling lights,
Cleft by a falling star, a messenger
From some bright battle lost, Excalibur.

~~
Katharine Lee Bates (1859-1929)
from The Retinue, and other poems, 1918

[Poem is in the public domain in Canada, the United States, and the European Union]

Katharine Lee Bates biography

Dandelions / George Sulzbach

Dandelions

I

Dancing dandelions
Springtime golden
later silver white

Riders
on the wind
seeking new homes


II

Bringers of life
Sealed with a kiss
Over the hill
I watch them float

Time sent
they flutter
like dust


III

Thirsty dandelions
like our taste for love
and action
by the campfire

I watch you blow
the little floaters
we watch them
cross the pass


IV

We wish to say
goodbye
to winter

the icy demon
who continues
to bite us

as we laugh
for the dandelions
will bring us all the Spring

~~
George Sulzbach, 2020

[All rights reserved - used with permission]

George Sulzbach biography

A January Dandelion / George Marion McClellan

A January Dandelion

All Nashville is a chill. And everywhere
Like desert sand, when the winds blow,
There is each moment sifted through the air,
A powdered blast of January snow.
O! thoughtless Dandelion, to be misled
By a few warm days to leave thy natural bed,
Was folly growth and blooming over soon.
And yet, thou blasted yellow-coated gem,
Full many a heart has but a common boon
With thee, now freezing on thy slender stem.
When the heart has bloomed by the touch of love’s warm breath
Then left and chilling snow is sifted in,
It still may beat but there is blast and death
To all that blooming life that might have been.

~~
George Marion McClellan (1860-1934)
from Poems, 1895

[Poem is in the public domain in Canada, the United States, and the European Union]

George Marion McClellan biography