My gratitude to Deryck N. Robertson (EIC, Paddler Press) and Shane Schick for including my poem, “That Crazy Old Lady” in their issue Grace Notes, which can be purchased among other issues in the Paddler Press Trip Log below. The issues are gorgeous!
That crazy old lady
still has her Christmas tree up!
Indeed! Been three years now.
The LED lights haven’t failed to sparkle
at passersby walking their dogs
and children playing in the park.
The few music students continuing
since COVID struck
blink several times
as they arrive weekly for lessons
to see the tree still waiting
for more Bluegrass tunes.
The bluebird pecking
at the picture window each spring –
Does it want to nest
in the tree’s brilliant branches
alongside the crystalline angels
and shimmering orbs
on artificial branches?
My tree, fake news? Hardly.
As my gaze rests there,
I’m spared headlines of disease,
mass shootings, bombs marked
“For the Children”, the inflictions
of ‘isms’, the forays of fear.
My Christmas tree,
determined to stand
until kindness and forgiveness
light up this world again.
Copyright © 2023 Barbara Harris Leonhard, All Rights Reserved
From Shane Schlick in the acceptance email:
“Thanks so much for submitting to this issue’s “Grace Notes” theme. Although I liked all your poems, I’d be especially interested in running “That Crazy Old Lady,” which was both funny and tender.”
Amazon Best-Selling Author, Three-Penny Memories: A Poetic Memoir (EIF-Experiments in Fiction, 2022); Pushcart Nominee
My book is still on Kindle Unlimited! Read for free!
Twitter: BarbaraLeonhar4; Facebook: Barbara Harris Leonhard /barbara.leonhard; Instagram: @meelosmom123
Extraordinary Sunshine Weaver 
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