Summer Roses
Pulse of July
Pulse of July’s languid hours:
blueberries ripening to deep purple,
lilies aligned in colorful arrays.
Ivory egrets,with graceful steps,
scout among green marsh grasses
that bend in warmer winds.
Heat and humidity have arrived –
energy is lost to move one muscle.
When winter’s blast whitens land
regrets will arise for passing
of these pleasant summer days.
Lainie Senechal
The Moon Waits
The One Night
Stars shake shiny dust
on path to rendezvous
which rises from leafy glade,
passes nebula’s smoky gases
that echo tall thunderheads,
travels beyond the black holes,
crosses the Silver River
for their annual meeting,
their one night of bliss.
Lainie Senechal
Lainie will exhibit paintings and read her poetry at this event:
Tanabata – The Star Festival
A group exhibition from July 9 – July 31.
Works inspired from the ancient legend of Tanabata.
Opening reception: Saturday, July 9th from 7 pm to 9 pm.
Poetry Reading from 8 pm.
As a special treat there will be a performance of a new play by Debra Weiss entitled “Untitled” at Kaji Aso Studio, Boston, MA.
Strawberry Moon
Summer Solstice, Lake Attitash
Summer solstice settles on lake,
a few casual clouds drift, almost
imperceptibly, across an azure dome.
Sun executes its tiptoe dance
on top of ripples sliding to shore.
A mother duck paddles by
with fresh hatchlings,
donning their fluffy down,
she clucks softly to remind
youngsters to stay close to clutch.
A dragonfly wings slowly along,
rests before the evening’s siege
that starts with waning light
and surge of mosquitos.
Some boaters settle on surface
in no hurry to go anywhere,
enjoying afternoon’s ambience.
Occasionally one exhibits an energy burst
and with a roar trails a white wake.
Fishermen drift slowly near shore,
cast lines while in quiet conversation.
Neighbor’s daughters return
to water for first swim –
a trio of Naiads enjoy
submersion into liquid velvet.
A breeze blows in from coast,
fans feathery fronds of Dawn Redwood
that shades porch from summer’s simmer
and where a cat snoozes away the season.
Summer returns carrying remembrances
of years along these shores
where days seem eternal
and the dream of summer never ends.
Lainie Senechal
Announcement: Lainie will exhibit her paintings and read her poetry at an Art Show and Sale on Saturday and Sunday, June 25th and 26th from 10 AM – 3 PM at Amesbury City Hall as part of the Amesbury Days celebration.
Bearded Iris
Passing Spring
Hours of spring –
flower-filled and golden
where wrinkled waves
of new leaves emerge.
A date with green-winged time,
always a posy in lapel;
it vanishes swiftly
in spite of fervent pleas
to pause, for awhile.
Lainie Senechal
Irises
May’s flower moon
dances in pre-dawn sky,
an angel of night,
a dream almost forgotten
when snow showered landscape.
Waves swerve into lane of light
which has landed across lake;
clouds only a smudge on horizon.
A progression of blossoms
burst into beauty then
retreat and fade
as season pushes forward
in phases of increasing warmth.
Lainie Senechal
Crab Apple Blossoms
A Request to May
May,
We require your cooperation;
April was a disappointment,
so fickle and fretful,
unable to secure a steady course.
Spring was, only occasionally,
in air, along with more snow.
Temperatures warmed, tentatively,
then plunged into frigid zone.
A few flowers made an attempt
to rise through still frozen soil.
Earth seemed to wake, stretch,
then return to slumber.
May, we are counting on you;
do not hold back, dive
headlong into a fresh season.
Bring on sweet scent of blossoms
in every hue and shade,
some mild breezes to ripple
through meadows’ greening grasses.
Paint sky an azure blue,
allow only a few billows.
Let feathered friends return
to establish boundaries, build nests.
Adorn bare branches with young leaves
where birdsong will cheer morning
and moonlight sparkle until dawn.
Move us forward into balmy days;
embrace a new direction.
You have our full support.
Lainie Senechal
Hydrangea
Spring straggles in,
trailing a shawl of mist.
We wish to linger in the sun,
surrounded by fresh flowers,
but that is a distant month;
only clouds, rain, cool wind,
even a flake of snow.
This is our fate
for these are April days.
Lainie Senechal
March Wind
Spring Arrives
Clumps of crocus and daffodils,
wet with soft, spring rain,
rise above replenished soil.
Maples’ red buds shake
on ends of thin branches
that vibrate in steady breeze.
Winter’s quiet days rapidly end
with sudden burst of peepers’ song
from swamp which shimmers
in slowly dimming day.
Lainie Senechal
Lainie will participate in a reading of poems written for art in the Blue Wave Fine Art Gallery, Amesbury, MA. The reception and reading is April 2, 6:30-8:30PM.
March Wind Sails Over Ice of Frozen Lakelike scraps of worn fabric,
torn from branches in streams
of strong March wind,
jet through open space
into empty vernal air.
Meltwater on frozen lake
forms pools that mirror
shimmer of setting sun,
as seasons flip from frigid winter
into warm, sweet spring.
Birds at dawn announce this
transition with renewed trills.
Lainie Senechal
Lainie will participate in an exhibit March Wind, with new paintings and poetry, at Kaji Aso Studio from March 12 – April 7th. The opening is March 12 from 7PM-9PM. Poetry reading begins at 8PM.
Snow Squall
Unbroken Promise
Where is the peace
in these wild winds
that whip white veils
across a frozen land?
Small creatures stir slightly
in underground lairs;
bulbs revive beneath
their ivory blankets;
songbirds renew their melodies;
goldfinches transform feathers,
drab gray to vivid yellow.
Twilight’s indigo glow lingers
behind evening’s first stars.
Spring whispers in our ear
of soft breezes which
ruffle newly sprouted leaves
and of its unbroken promise-
a transition to temperate days.
Lainie Senechal
Announcement: Lainie will be a featured reader at the event: An Evening With Poets #2, organized by Bryan Riley. This event will take place on Thursday, February 25th from 6:30 to 8 PM at the Market Square Bakehouse, 5 Market Square in downtown Amesbury, MA.