Doris Day

(After storm Doris - 23rd February 2017)

Doris axed the branches from the trees,

Brutally cut them down, blew them

With fierce precision onto

The battle field. The park.

And there she laid them down,

Rows and rows and rows,

Spreading and spreading,

Like soldiers laid out after the war -

A cemetery of cindered sprigs.

And there she left them in peace.

I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine.

Hard to - see the truth,

Hard to - create beauty.

Contentment not ever being

Known for its strength as

An emotion. Through the ages.

No one ever sat and wrote 

Soaring operas, heart-punching poems,

Stomach-ocean tragedies, hand-shaking plays

By being fine. By being OK.

I breathed in a bit of Doris

Through my left nostril, let her

Swirl around my soul and settle there.

I have a storm inside me.

It is simmering now, it is weak, barely

Lifting the lazy leaves off their laurels

Now. But wait. Wait. Wait.

I have a storm inside me,

And Lord, one day she'll blow.