Poetry By Anna Cates

        geir tønnessen Flickr


WINTER’S TALE

cold whispers of snow, the color of twilight
deep as mountains—when lost, where does one go?
beyond withered fields, a cabin and candlelight . . .
cold whispers of snow, colors of twilight   
fade with the stars, owl calls and moonlight.
the few birds who overwinter here I think I know
cold whispers of snow, the colors of twilight,
the depth of mountains where the dying go.

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PEDESTAL

I

She always wanted to view the world
from a pedestal but couldn't climb that high. 
She was poor, a nobody, another addicted girl . . .
She always wanted to view the world
from a fresh perspective, where horizons curled
into rainbow beauty, redeeming the whole sky.
She always wanted to view the world
from a pedestal, but couldn't climb that high. 

II

I’ve waited to put you on a pedestal. 
But spring has ended, and the flowers have dropped their bloom.
Then summer green faded into cold wind.  Lamentable,
though I’ve waited to put you on a pedestal,
written poems, sang songs, and told parables
like Jesus in the garden, tired and accepting a strange doom,
though I’ve waited to put you on a pedestal,
when spring ended, and the bleeding hearts dropped their bloom.

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Anna Cates is a graduate of Indiana State University (M.A. English and Ph.D. Curriculum & Instruction/English) and National University (M.F.A. Creative Writing).  Her first collections of poetry and fiction, The Meaning of Life and The Frog King, were published by Cyberwit Press, and her second poetry collection, The Darkroom, by Prolific Press.  She lives in Ohio with her two beautiful kitties and teaches education and English online, including graduate courses in creative writing. 
Poet/author’s homepage:    https://www.amazon.com/A.-Cates/e/B006TGBCT2

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