The Hummingbird in Whittier’s Garden

img-x13053533-0001The Hummingbird

The Hummingbird in Whittier’s Garden

Ruby-throated hummingbird

appears suddenly among

bright ruby-colored blossoms

in Whittier’s August garden

during annual reading -

darts swiftly from flowerlet

to flowerlet, thrusts its bill

down each tiny tube.

Listeners become observers,

words float unheard

into warm summer air.

Focus now on blurred wings

of tiny visitor, intent on

gathering sustenance, who takes

no notice of silent admirers and

disappears suddenly to seek

nectar from other flowers,

for poetry provides no purpose

in its petite world.

Lainie Senechal

Love Never Says, “This is the Last”

LillieDaylilies

I find your face

in sepia photographs

of our first encounter;

your visage lifts my heart

like the great fluttering

of a thousand doves.

How I protest this separation.

I search for a glimpse

but the window’s glass plate

has darkened by eternal decree.

Love, however, cannot be contained,

love follows no commands –

the joy of the heart overflows

into a never-ending stream

that forever connects our lives.

“Love never says, ‘This is the last’ “.

Lainie Senechal

I read this poem at my brother Ray’s funeral.  He passed away suddenly on August 17.  He was 57 years old.  The last line is a quote from the writings of Thich Nhat Hanh.

Salisbury Summer & Announcement

img-X01005929-0001Along the Shore

Salisbury Summer

Summer on Salisbury Beach,

a week at my Aunt’s cottage,

adults worked all day,

Two cousins and I left on our own.

At ten years old unfamiliar,

but desired, days of freedom.

Instructions: “You can go to

the beach but stay near lifeguards.”

Our unknowing babysitters,

who paid little attention,

more focused on bathing beauties,

applying sunscreen, on blankets nearby.

We rode waves so rough

they slammed us into the strand,

filled our bathing suits with sand.

We arose coughing and sputtering

from swallowed salt water

then raced through the surf

to catch another wild ride.

When bored, we walked

to jetty of large, black rocks,

leapt from boulder to boulder,

scraped hands and feet

on slippery, rough surfaces,

while sea pounded through

gaps in rock pile below.

In evening we would wander home,

fall asleep early with expectations

for another day that

would be fully ours.

Lainie Senechal

Published in Ibbetson Street #39, June 2016

Announcement: Lainie will read poetry at The Whittier Home and Tapestry of Voices  18th annual collaborative reading of the poetry of and inspired by John Greenleaf Whittier on Sunday, August 14 from 3-4:30 PM. The poetry reading will take place in the Victorian garden of the Whittier Home Museum, 86 Friend street, Amesbury, MA.

Pulse of July

Summer RosesSummer 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

 

Tanabata – The One Night & Announcement

The Moon WaitsThe 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.

Summer Solstice & Announcement

Strawberry MoonStrawberry 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.

May’s Flower Moon

Blue FlowerIrises

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

A Request to May

Crab Apple TreeCrab 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