I
May comes in dressed with flowers wild.
It is a pole with ribbons streaming down
Around which children romp and play.
May is, also, blond, cute and mine
For whom, my heart grows ever fonder.
She seems almost an angel, at least to me.
How could I have been this lucky?
II
May is a cream and yellow blossom
That grows an apple you dare not eat.
May is also a word with which to ask
Permission to have almost anything
Including asking Susan for a kiss,
Or Grandma for a piece of fudge.
III
Come! Visit me in the month of May.
The sky is so blue, it aches the heart.
Soft breezes will caress your very soul.
No other breath of air smells as sweet.
Whichever wildflower you most desire,
You’ll find the choicest in May.
Yet, beware, for love strikes quickly, in May.
ALL ABOUT MAY
I
May comes in dressed with flowers wild.
It is a pole with ribbons streaming down
Around which children romp and play.
May is, also, blond, cute and mine
For whom, my heart grows ever fonder.
She seems almost an angel, at least to me.
How could I have been this lucky?
II
May is a cream and yellow blossom
That grows an apple you dare not eat.
May is also a word with which to ask
Permission to have almost anything
Including asking Susan for a kiss,
Or Grandma for a piece of fudge.
III
Come! Visit me in the month of May.
The sky is so blue, it aches the heart.
Soft breezes will caress your very soul.
No other breath of air smells as sweet.
Whichever wildflower you most desire,
You’ll find the choicest in May.
Yet, beware, for love strikes quickly, in May.
DANCE OF UNICORN
On starlit night
of silver moon
I dance
But
I dance
only for those
who chance to stray
into the mystery of moon-mist way
(from HAIKUS AT THE WINDOW)
still-posed on fence poles
ground squirrels in the bright sun
below…ahhh…a skunk!
AUTHOR NOTES
GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby
The poem, “DANCE OF UNICORN,” appears this week for April 29, International Dance Day. Those familiar with the author’s work will know she had a special fondness for the subject of unicorns. Since we are honoring dance, it may be interesting to know she encouraged her own daughter in dance classes.
REFRACTIONS—poetry by Robert Roxby
“ALL ABOUT MAY” presents once again the author is his exhuberance triggered by nature and strengthened by thoughts of love. This group of poems first appeared in the author’s collection, Reflections on a Lifetime, 2000.
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby
This selection appears for April 27, Sense of Smell Day. This piece originally appeared as one of three poems under the title, “Haikus At the Window” in her chapbook, Chameleon Woman, released 2000. The inspiring view (for all three poems) appeared in the window facing her desk at work. She wrote all three of the poems while sitting there.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.
Guidelines for submission:
SPLINTERS FOR APRIL 2024
April has several special days that might inspire a writer. Here’s a few:
YOUNG
Trees were there, so we could climb,
Though only twenty feet, or so.
Tall, they seemed awfully tall to us.
You, too, would have loved the thrills,
Swaying, back and forth, perched on top.
Doubling the thrill when, occasionally,
The whole tree fell. Scared we were,
But miraculously never hurt.
That grapevine swing seemed to touch the sky.
I’d sure like to try that again, would you?
POE
He fled
The bounds mundane of Earth
To follow lustrous stars
October nights
Strange and wild
And roam in Arnheim
SPIRIT QUEST
Lifted from the tide pool,
Malachite
Lies wet and cool
In my hand
While primordial memory
Flickers in my blood
Or quivers across my skin
As I touch Malachite’s cousin,
Serpentine,
Warm and slick in the sun.
Wet tadpole ripples
Ride the heart rhythm
Pulsing in waves.
Lizard sand trails
Scrape scales against flesh.
Sediment silts into the riverbeds
Of my veins.
Cooling magma steams
In my bones.
I am rock and life.
I am alone on the beach
Where ancient memory
Assaults reality
And transforms dreams.
AUTHOR NOTES
GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby
The poem “POE” is displayed this month for UN World Creativity and Innovation, April 21. This author was a particular favorite of Margaret’s. She even read some of his poetry to her daughter at bedtime in place of the fairy tales that the little girl often did not enjoy. It is possible the author intended to title the poem “Wild October Ghosts,” a guess-read of her shorthand notation on the original.
REFRACTIONS—the poetry of Robert Roxby
“YOUNG” appears in honor of Arbor Day, April 26. The poem likely describes his own childhood in the hills of coal country: Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia. He had a lifelong fascination with forests, taking his family on family trips to see the redwoods and sequoias of California. This poem first appeared in his collection Reflections on a Lifetime.
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby
“SPIRIT QUEST” appears this week for April 22, World Earth Day. The poem was inspired by a trip to the beach on a rock gathering expedition with her college Geology class. However, her fascination with rocks began much earlier. There was a fairly large collection on display in her back yard during her elementary years.