Excerpt #2 from Summer Magic

March 10, 2015March 10, 2015 / Marcia / Leave a comment

For those of us here in central Florida, where the temps reached into the 80’s today, this isn’t so far away. For those of you still suffering from frostbite and chilblains, maybe this will give you hope that summer will come again. 🙂

The Sound of Dreams Coming True

Side by side,
They recline,
Deckchair wood
Warm against their
Shoulders.
Eyes closed,
Almost dozing in
Late afternoon shade,
The humid sounds of August
Sluicing over them
Like warm water
On even warmer skin.
Old Summer is singing.

Listen, he says,
Do you hear it?
Um-hmm, she answers,
As a bird pours
Liquid notes into the
Emerald and ochre of the garden.
What is that, he asks.
It’s the cardinal, Love,
Calling his mate.
They’ve built a nest in
The mock-orange,
This year.
Ah.

Listen, he says again,
As a soft hum
Grows around them,
Swelling into a
Chirring rhythm,
Which fills the air with
A noise as familiar
As summer, itself.
What is that, he asks.
Katydids, she says,
Reaching for his hand,
They’re singing songs of
Love just for us.
Ah.

Listen, she says,
Kissing his fingers,
As a little girl laughs,
Chasing fireflies
With her big brother.
Do you hear it, Love?
Do you hear the sound of
Dreams coming true?
I hear our children,
Playing late on a summer’s eve,
He says, turning to
Look at her soft smile.
Yes, she replies . . .
Exactly.
Ah.

***

Summer Magic: Poems of Life & Love is available on Amazon for download to Kindle

You Guys Better Get Busy…

March 9, 2015 / Marcia / 6 Comments

…or you’re gonna be reading a LOT of excerpts from ME this week! 😯 Here’s a short one from my book Summer Magic. It’s the final poem in the book, wherein I get the last laugh over all the naysayers I’ve known through the years. Some of you might recognize this scenario.

Attitude Really IS Everything

No!
Yes.
You can’t!
I can.
Why?
Why not?
It’s all wrong!
It’s all right.
You shouldn’t!
I should.
You won’t!
I will.
It could be bad!
It could be good.
It’s too late!
There’s time.
You’re too old!
I’m still here.
You did it!
I did.

Summer Magic is available for download on Kindle

Star-Gazing

September 24, 2014September 24, 2014 / Marcia / 3 Comments

Here’s a secret for you…I write poems, in addition to novels. I always have, starting before I was five. In my book, Summer Magic: Poems of Life & Love, I have a section devoted to MacKenzie Cole (the lead male character from Wake-Robin Ridge) at the age of ten, when he used to go camping with his father in the mountains every summer. Here’s one of my favorites. Hope some of you like it, too.

Look Dad, he cries,
Look how many!
I see a hundred,
Maybe a thousand!
I see them, too,
Dad says,
And together, they laugh,
Delighted.
Joy shared,
And excitement
Doubled.

Come see the meteors,
Dad said, as he
Shook him awake
Just before dawn.
He crawled from the tent,
Rubbing his eyes,
Then staring in wonder.
With the sky still a midnight black,
And bright stars wheeling overhead,
The fireworks came.
Racing toward Earth,
One after another,
The Perseids.
The miracle of hot August nights.
A late-summer light show
That electrified his soul.
His young heart transfixed
By the sight of the universe,
Lit with streamers
Of flame.

A meteor shower,
Dad tells him again,
But he knows nothing
So beautiful has a name
So ordinary.
Stars, he thinks, pulled loose
From the fabric of the sky,
And flung toward earth,
Trailing silver and gold,
And bringing pieces of Heaven
To those watching below.

He holds up his hands,
Cupped reverently,
To catch one of his own.
To be blessed by
This summer magic.
He holds his breath, waiting
For the illumination
Of his soul to begin.
Falling stars,
Falling from the
Summer sky,
For him.