O, Lady!
Queen of summer
I watch you choose
With lilting grace
Perfect blossom for farewell kiss.
Wings open, close, open, close
Say to me
Slow down
Gaze
Breathe.
Wings closed reveal etched stain glass
Solemn and beautiful as
Cathedral windows glowing in sunlight.
Yet rim of playful polka dots
Reminds me to lighten up and laugh.
Wings open, a regal velvet robe
Offers royal absolution for ingratitude
Despondency, hopelessness.
Hundreds of your cousins zero in
On Seven Son’s tree in my backyard
Seek nourishment and rest before long flight home.
Your presence, dear Queen, a message
To my discouragement:
Beauty, grace, strength, tribulation and perseverance
Are woven of the same cloth.
Like Joseph’s coat of many colors
A gift from loving Father/Mother.
Each of us a favored daughter, son.
Transformed from knobby, crawling creatures
To royalty, empowered to fly
Even in the hardest circumstance.
