Untitled 12

rainy days
chase the clouds away
the open night
the blue-cast day
it falls
on unknowing heads

~ R. Harder

Whither we wander

Whither we wander
and whether we go
we sit and we ponder
particularly slow

on this way or that
a yes or a no
to, a from or an at
a high or a low

and only we move
in words that we speak
with nothing to prove
to make us unique

and whither we wander
our tongue in out cheek
create nothing of wonder
are nothing but meek

and so we deny
the things that could be
the things you and I
could simply reach out and see

~ R. Harder

Warm

green as the grass
blue as the sky
blue as forget-me-nots
on my lanai
their little sun-centers
glowing in gold
their little arms waving
daring and bold
blue as the day
as we watch it unfold
blue in the sunshine
and blue in the cold
then darkness falls in
blue as the twilight
green as fireflies
that dance in the night.

~ R. Harder

Untitled 11

orange, red
yellow, brown
tomato, potato
mustard crown
in a garden
colors grow
in the rows
of seeds I sow
dusky dawn
and dewy down
peas in pods
in pumpkin town
ripe then rotten
swollen and blown
color and smell
set the tone
as the inward
outward die
seeds rebirth
deep inside
then untended,
the rows outgrown,
replanting themselves
where seeds were sown
lettuce defect
beside zucchini
who with cucumber
forms a treaty
radishes in red
dig their mines
beans and peas
strangle their vines
the cherry tomato
drops its bombs
while mint and parsley
sing a psalm
green to yellow
to orange to red
nothing stays
within its bed
the hand unplucking
untrimming, unsown
cannot see
the garden alone
though through touch
it makes its mark
the hand stays blind
to all the bark

~ R. Harder

Untitled 10

the unhappy hour
grows longest
the clock ticks
slow
and yet
when you turn
around
you see
your time is gone
and nothing
can bring it back
once more,

~ R. Harder

dream garden

angels in my dreams
keep me from waking
to the glory road.
with beauty blossoms
the white thorn
with petals of
silk
and a subtle
cyanide scent
in my garden they
grow,
among the mums
and forget-me-nots
they tangle in my
hand
as I reach to
pluck
as I bow to
smell
in the copper light
of my estate
I wonder if I
should
hesitate?

~ R. Harder

Untitled 9

a more happy
pasture is waiting
for me to find

somewhere
out there
somewhere
I cannot go

I wish I
could reach
and hold it tight

but I hold
me back
I must journey
from inside.

~ R. Harder

Untitled 8

The Summer’s dawn
is waking.

out of the winter
spring is born

out of the rush
and fear
and sorrow
new lives new loves
begun.

awaken new
and face the sorrow
turn it into your
day.
all the pain and
fear you’re holding
let it all
pass away.

tear down all that
was gone.
to find a new place
for you
to belong

~ R. Harder

the year ends
with the
spring’s rise
and soon
we must
leave our roots

the sun
though cheery
the skies
though blue
mark an end
of this year
and the
start of
a new

and older
we get
with each
summer’s rise
and as seeds
we depart
to flightier
skies

the winter white
weather lasted
so long
by cold
and endurance
it made us
all strong

and though
it was a
struggle
it’s a struggle
we’ll miss
as the sun dawns
it is welcome
but it marks
an end
to all this

~ R. Harder

the Hour of time

every day is an hour
as the world turns us by
an hour of waiting
too soon we will cry

that hour by hour
becomes day by day
where has it gone
why has time gone away?

as every day is a speck
in the sand of all time
it is but an accent
in an infinite rhyme

of the world as it grows
becomes shaped and defined
as millennia pass
with an eye that is blind

like a guttering flame
lives flicker and spark
they leave existence
without further remark

that every day of our lives
is but an hour in time
that each life is fleeting
seems an infinite crime.

For us every hour
now becomes a day
because each one we have
is a countdown of dismay.

too soon we will pass
and the world will go on
in the death of our hour
to each minute we hold on

every minute is precious
every second is dear.
So have all the love
for the time you are here.

~ R. Harder