Outrageous
by
Radiance Angelina Petro

I put on an extra shirt before going outside
this morning–the one that stays open for lack of buttons—
and go out wondering what outrageous things
I’ll see today. Maybe another half-eaten deer leg
on the ground by the edge of the cornfield. Maybe
another woodchuck waddling back into the underbrush
with its mouth full of clover. Maybe I’ll see
the baby Eastern Cottontails nibbling the morning grass.
Maybe I’ll notice the wine berries again, and the dew
on the slender, fuzzy cornstalks. Maybe I’ll remember
how alive I am, and how grateful. Maybe when I get back
to the Barn I’ll carry wonder into the room,
and to the chair where I write poetry after my morning walks,
and pour it into my favorite pen and spill it across the page–
that too is just as outrageous as anything I know.

Joy of the Knowing
by
Radiance Angelina Petro

I bet the soft as dreams Eastern
Cottontails living in the brush along
the footpaths, nibble and swallow so many
four-leaf clovers in a given day—
same with the deer and the Clydesdales
across the road, as well as the woodchuck
I saw this morning.

I’ve yet to pluck a clover and chew it to see
what that’s like, but rest assured I will someday
and I will tell you all about it.

When I arrive back at the door to the Barn
–just before I go in–I turn and look at the day,
and these thoughts fill me with joy of the knowing
all those animals have bellies full of four-leaf clovers.

The Night Falls,
a Prose Poem
by
Radiance Angelina Petro

This morning the cows were already waiting for me at the fence. “Good morning!” I said. They skipped the pleasantries and got right to it. “We have strange news Radiance. Did you know that the night really falls? We haven’t figured out from where yet, but it falls alright. It’s like some sort of veil that had been held up by invisible strings all day that the sun snipped before she sank behind the hills. It slowly drifted down and disappeared the corn field, the tractor, and the farmer’s house. It even covered the lights in the windows.” They chewed their mouthfuls of clover waiting to see my reaction. I looked up at the sky and said: “That is strange. I dreamt last night that I wasn’t ready to teach today.” “What did you do?” they asked. “I woke up in a panic, got up to pee, then went back to bed.” “What happened to the dream? they asked.” “I’m not sure,” I said, “but maybe it turned into a veil and was lifted into the sky when I got up this morning.” The cows chewed for a moment and we all stood in silence until they said: “Strange.”

The Ground that is No Longer Ice
by
Radiance Angelina Petro

When the day arises with an answer,
and all the movable parts are humming

smoothly, and the stars living in your bones
are alive, and singing–go journeying for a time,

or forever. You know it will rain heavily
tomorrow, but today the sun is shining. Remember

the answer was found in the dark.
As you begin simply lift your feet–compelled forward

and away, like ice-skating, only gliding just
above the ground—the ground that is no longer ice.

Discovery
by
Radiance Angelina Petro

Yesterday I found out how far
I can be from the Beloved when talking
on a long piece of string with a tin can
held to our ears at either end.

Felt Hammers
by
Radiance Angelina Petro

The felt hammers rebound after striking the strings.
Some hammers give little kisses and the strings shivers,
some introduce the strings to the room, while others
dance when they meet, still others inspire the strings
to shine, dazzling them with rhythmic touches, and others
lift away after the loving, letting the strings settle back into silence.

The Wind is Always Blowing
by
Radiance Angelina Petro

Early morning moves
across the lines the spider
has stretched from one maple to another.
I know the lines will break
into the wind, like thin, nearly invisible
streamers. I’d better get started
reorganizing myself into the day.
for the wind is always blowing.

Hot Pursuit
by
Radiance Angelina Petro

The four Clydesdales trot
across the field, their manes
tossing in the wind, running away
from the wild-winged, hissing goose.

If For No Other Reason
by
Radiance Angelina Petro

Upon waking, I go outside to get a sense
of the day. The four Clydesdales in the field
across the road, nibbling the wet grass, the feathering
on their lower legs moving in the wind
if for no other reason than nature insists on beauty,
lift their heads when the heron flies over the trees.

Soul Changing
By
Radiance Angelina Petro

At the end of the day, we are all
light-seeking. In this world of seeming
and guessing, the impulse towards ever-spring
unfolds the flower of longing.

We all know about withering and the falling
of petals. We know pain determines so much.
We know winter is coming, and so we turn
towards the warmth of the fire.

Time secretly aligns seeds towards the sun.
No matter how long we sleep love is waiting—
taking slow, simple sips of pure contentment.

Darkness is the point of departure. It is soul-
changing, and love uses it to encourage us to enter
the struggle upwards. We must be willing

to accept surprises. Surprises, like why-questions
suddenly unriddled, surprises like eternity,
surprises, like the ever-spring unfolding
the flower into love’s waiting hands.