Author: isobel cunningham
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Stepping into the lake at early morning No other bather and no boat, No bird but lake silence. Stepping into the water, the cool water. Stones and sand beneath my feet. Ripples, sun-ring ripples ring my legs, stepping into the lake. Expanding gentle ripples in early morning sun. Stepping into the cool water The sun…
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Green woodland spirit with your thousands of soft green hairs Standing guard in the cool green forest. Day, with its dappled light, with its sun patches, Day with its cloud and rain sees you standing low and firm. Night, the cool misted night, Night of an orange crescent moon, the brilliant stars Falling stars or…
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OK apologies to Shakespeare. It’s 14 lines not 12 and it should be three quatrains and a couplet. So sue me! I’ll do better next time. Maybe this is a new form? The Cunninghamian sonnet!
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The sky is clear. No clouds appear, and yet We call for heat and burning sun aloft. As though a winter harsh and cold is debt That gives us rights to summer breezes soft. What makes us sure that summer must be hot? That we can swim or play upon the sand? What is…
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This is what I see through the cabin window. At night, of course, it is totally black. The cabin is not insulated so that when it gets chilly at night I am very glad of the baseboard heater. Last night here beside the lake I am told by my iPad that it dipped to 5…
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White moth, dark moth, mottled grey, feathered moths Why do you approach us, with our houses, our boats, clinging to the edge of the lake? Our cabins, our railings, and beach chairs. Oh, white moth and dark moth, how have you strayed here? Away from cool moss, from pine seedlings Away from mushrooms, yellow or…
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To to be invited to zakouski is quite a privilege. Zakouski is often translated as hors d’ouevres but there is a different connotation to the word. It really means “a bite after “. After what? Well, after vodka, of course. Ah, here is ice cold Absolut but also some strange combinations that I had never…
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Why is it that only women have flower names? Why don’t we name people after trees? Maple or Oak would be wonderful names, I think. Well, we do have Willow, although not very often. So many flower names for girls, Lily and Rose and Violet but not Tulip. Why on earth not, I…
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I was looking at books on a friend’s bookshelf ( there few things as enjoyable, I think) and there was a book of Russian fairy stories. It opened to this page and I thought what a strange coincidence it was that I should have been reading about Faberge eggs and…
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The first time I saw a cloud born it rose up out of a deep narrow valley. It was Springtime in a hot dry country that would soon consume the moisture of its small rare forests. It was a cool evening during Easter week and I was out walking with someone whose name is now…
