She is the landscape, colors that invite
the dance of rain and shadow, morning’s bloom
that brushes summer with soft autumn pinks,
and winter’s frost with bluebells’ warmth of spring.
Her voice is grounded in all movement, flow
of winds through sage grass, rivers over rocks,
low fog that fills the valley’s bowl, snow geese
migrating, chorused howls of wolves through fields.
She holds a story soon to be unfurled
through breath of light that lifts before it spreads.
Pastels of history and prospective form
the arching hews of skies she will explore.
She is the scene, the sound, the bone and salt,
a swirl of seasons anchored and released.
Karen Shepherd lives in the Pacific Northwest where she enjoys walking in forests and listening to the rain. Her poetry and short fiction have been published in various online and print journals including most recently Elephants Never, Neologism Poetry Journal, Cirque Journal and Mojave Heart Review. Follow her on Twitter @karkarneenee.
