The Visitors’ Office

A full moon hazed by mist

Illuminated the night.

Sentinel spruce and fir trees

Stood to attention along the winding road.

An information booth stood between two lanes—

More windows than bricks—

With its lights competing with the moon for brightness.

No one was present,

A blank page in a library of nature.

Cindy Herndon

 

The Garment of Yesterday

“after Diana Khoi Nguyen”

 

“The past draped around us like a cloak.”

Fabricated memories

Offered warmth and protection,

But it weighted us down

And kept us from flying toward tomorrow.

 

A butterfly does not carry its chrysalis

As it flits from flower to flower.

 

A frog does keep its tadpole tail

While it jumps among lily pads.

 

A chicken does not carry its shell

When it roost at night.

 

Perhaps we too should shed our past.

 

Cindy Herndon