A MORNING IN MAY by Sharon Grau

A Morning in May

                                 by Shanon Grau

There’s a restless heart
underneath
spring soil,
with its May mornings
that want
to give you warmth
but barely know the sun yet,
and its gliding barn swallows
who think
they are bats
in the light of day.

There’s a sudden epiphany-
and a sort of sun-kissed confusion
from a seed
that has only known the dark,
but gives rise to
the purple splendor
of an iris,
while the barn swallow
flies by
and finally realizes
it’s a bird,
and takes in the sun
on a slowly warming morning
in May.

Sharon Grau: I am a Licensed Massage Therapist who lives near the sea in Asbury Park, NJ. I grew up in the midland/central NJ area but in 2015, I made the choice to move closer to the Atlantic Ocean. Ever since I was a little girl I have been enchanted by the natural world; at the age of 12, I began trying to describe this enchantment through the world of words and art. My love for art and poetry continued into my college years where I took classes in painting, photography, and creative writing. Living near the ocean fuels my creativity and keeps me rooted in the earth’s elements. Many mornings, you will find me standing on the beach taking photos of the sun just as it breaks the horizon. It is during these sunrise moments that I truly feel the most present and illuminated in the beauty and mystery of being a human being.

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